Baseball memorial for bullied boy

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A memorial is being planned by a baseball club in honour of a young player who hanged himself after being bullied on his school bus.

An inquest on Thursday returned an open verdict into the death of 11-year-old Ben Vodden, from Southwater, near Horsham, West Sussex.

Ben took part in the very first taster day run by Horsham Junior Baseball Club and played for the Yankees team.

Now the club's playing field will be named after him and a plaque installed.

It will be unveiled on 2 June, the opening day of the new baseball season, and will read: "In Memory of Ben Vodden and the Consequences of Bullying."

"Ben was part of our family," said the club's co-chairman, Robert Burnie.

If you do not act on bullying, it can lead to very tragic events as we've seen here Robert Burnie, Horsham Junior Baseball Club

"He was a real good kid, very lively, and he was a very humorous individual who told lots of jokes."

Mr Burnie said the message on the memorial plaque would be used in match programmes and other publications "as a consistent reminder of who Ben was".

Ben used shoelaces to hang himself from his bunk bed on 12 December last year.

His father Paul said after Thursday's inquest: "The bullies took him from us."

Mr Burnie said the baseball club now adopted a tough anti-bullying stance.

"If you do not act on it, it can lead to very tragic events as we've seen here."