Schoolboy Mark Billington unlawfully killed, inquest concludes

A schoolboy who was last seen when he left his home on his bike to fly a kite in September 1984 was unlawfully killed, a coroner has concluded.

The body of 15-year-old Mark Billington was found two months later hanging in a tree in woodland on the edge of Meriden, near Coventry, nearly seven miles (11km) from his home in South Yardley, Birmingham.

Police at the time treated the death as a suicide, but it became a murder inquiry in 2002. No-one has ever been charged. Mark’s family has fought for four decades for answers.

Following a two-day inquest, senior coroner Louise Hunt told the court on Tuesday she was “satisfied that Mark was murdered and there was no evidence that he took his own life”.

“It remains an unsolved murder”, the court heard.

Warning: This story contains distressing details

Delivering her conclusion at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner’s Court, Hunt said she was satisfied the evidence provided showed that the teenager went missing on 1 September 1984 and would have died at some point that day.

Addressing his family, Hunt displayed a picture of the smiling schoolboy as she described Mark as a “quiet” and “happy” boy who loved going to Butlins, his stamp collection and model railway kits.

The inquest heard the teenager had a “keen interest in cooking, and cheesecake was a regular on the menu” and was looking ahead to his future by writing to caterers about employment opportunities once he left school.

His father and mother Royston and Winifred Billington, who adopted Mark as a baby in 1971, had no concerns about any mental health issues and said going missing was “completely out of character”