CJD mystery over same school deaths

Salesman John Longley is the second pupil from Red House School in Norton, Teeside, to have died from variant CJD, an inquest heard.

The first, Stephen Churchill, died of the disease in 1995 at the age of 19.

The inquest into the death of Middlesbrough-born 26-year-old Mr Longley who died in April 2001, recorded a verdict of accidental death.

It is not known how the pair contracted the disease, with scientists unable to pinpoint when they ate infected meat which is thought to be the cause.

A seven-month investigation into the cases failed to turn up any specific links apart from the location.

Mr Churchill's mother, Dot, said her sympathies were with Mr Longley's family.

Mrs Churchill, who now lives in Wiltshire, said: "They were in different years, but they were at the same school at the same time."

Mr Longley's mother, Christine, told the inquest how her son had a normal diet when he was growing up.

Mrs Longley, 60, of Stockton, Teesside, said John would eat roast beef and mince at home, bought at a supermarket or a local butcher's shop.

She said he also liked beef burgers from fast food shops in his later years, but no more than was usual.

She said: "I saw him stumble down the stairs a couple of times and he was also forgetting to do other simple things."