Mother speaks of sports day death

Tayside Police said there were no suspicious circumstances

The mother of a 10-year-old boy who dropped dead at his school sports day in Perthshire said he had been "so chuffed" after nearly winning his race.

Jack Miller, a boarder at Ardvreck School in Crieff, fell ill on Saturday. He was airlifted to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, where he later died.

His mother, shoe designer Helen Bateman, said the family was at the beginning of a "very long journey".

Writing on her website, she thanked people for their messages of support.

She said: "He left us very suddenly, having just run like the wind on his school sports day.

Jack would have loved making the front pages Helen Bateman

"He very nearly won and was so chuffed with that."

She added: "We were quite taken aback to find ourselves in the newspapers today - although Jack would have loved making the front pages.

"We are of course only at the beginning of what will be a very long journey for us."

Jack's father, Andrew Douglas Miller, is a member of the family who owned Edinburgh department store Jenners.

The schoolboy, who was from the village of Clathy in Perthshire, was described by teachers as a "lively, sociable" boy who would be missed by everyone.

Headmaster Paddy Watson said: "He was lively, a boy who enjoyed entertaining in all the right ways, very sociable, kind, full of life."

Jack's houseparents, Richard and Eirian Caves, also paid tribute saying he was a natural boarder who made a wonderful impression on everyone he met.