Dead boy wanted to 'divorce' parents
25 April 2002

By KERI WELHAM
A Christchurch teenager who died suddenly while in government care had been saving his McDonald's wages to pay for a "divorce" from his parents.

Jonathan Magon was a pleasant, imaginative 17-year-old with good grades, but the very sight of his parents would trigger ugly, frustrated moods and he would speak of hating them so much he did not care if they died.

Experts yesterday dismissed this unjustified hatred as symptomatic of the little-known form of autism, Asperger Syndrome.

Jonathan was placed in Child Youth and Family care at 14 after three months in Princess Margaret's Child and Family unit to which he was referred after suicide threats made at home.

After apparently successful treatment at Princess Margaret's he refused to return home and was moved to a foster home. On his 17th birthday he was released from CYF custody but remained under the service's guardianship.

Asperger expert Dr Ruth Baker told the Christchurch Coroner's Court Jonathan had suffered from Asperger for a number of years. She blamed the condition for Jonathan's fixation on his dislike for his parents, his exaggerated language, and his practice of setting a stopwatch to time five-minute access visits with his parents.

The Coroner is investigating the cause of Jonathan's unexpected death and whether it is in any way attributable to the actions or inaction of Child, Youth and Family staff.

CYF social worker Catherine Brophy said Jonathan was the brightest child she had seen in CYF care. He had quit a job at a supermarket for a better-paying position at McDonald's so he could start saving for a "divorce" from his parents.

He was placed with first-time foster parents Blair Hickling and Donna Sinclair and had a series of six sessions with a CYF psychologist.

Coroner Colin Marshall asked Mrs Brophy: "I'm just wondering whether something more could not have been done for this lad – 15-16 (years old) with problems – rather than structured meetings with a psychologist in his office?"

Mrs Brophy replied: "On a personal level, I wasn't aware I could have done much more."

Jonathan died at his foster parents' home on April 12, 2001. CYF had last spoken to his foster mother on March 21, 2001, when Ms Sinclair called to discuss concerns about Jonathan's recent declaration of homosexuality, his exciteable nature since returning from a cultural exchange to Japan, and the regression of his obsessive/complusive disorder behaviour.

The clinical head of Princess Margaret's Child and Family unit, Dr Bill Watkins, said the teen's dramatic display of obsessive/compulsive disorder behaviour in the last weeks of his life was a sign that a possible mood disorder could also have been deteriorating.

The CYF case worker's last contact with Jonathan was around August 2000. This was also the last time Jonathan's parents heard from the service.

Mother Diane Magon broke down repeatedly in court. She accepted that Jonathan told others he hated his family but said he would sometimes contact her without prompting. She produced a tape recording of a message left on her answerphone. In a bright voice, he announced: "Um, it's Jonathan and by the way you've such a happy sounding answering message. Anyway, I'm back from Japan and I thought I'd give you a call. It's the 12th, I think, it's a Monday and I'm off school 'cause I was sick. OK, bye."

Mrs Magon said she had tried on several occasions to express her dissatisfaction with Jonathan's placement, CYF's reluctance to encourage counselling with Asperger expert Dr Ruth Baker, and the Magon family's exclusion from decisions such as Jonathan's trip to Japan.

The inquest has been adjourned.