GenQ - For the not so straight individual

Steven Grant, a man in his late forties has made the shocking admission that he left his 17-year-old gay lover to die after finding him in a drug-addled stupor.

Steven Grant has confessed to falling in love with neighbour Brenton Lundstrom when the schoolboy was just 15.

He admits that they started a sexual relationship days after Brenton's 16th birthday - but insists he is no paedophile.

However, he accepts he "betrayed" his partner, after leaving him semi-conscious on their bed for 16 hours after Brenton took a suspected drugs overdose.

When the teenager eventually died Steven, 48, was arrested on suspicion of murder, but was later released without charge.

Steven first met Brenton, then aged 13, when he moved into a flat in Selhurst Road, Selhurst.

Although Steven's young neighbour soon befriended him, he insists there was nothing illegal or unusual about their friendship.
He said: "I never considered Brenton in that way. It's not as it seems, he started to come round my house every day but he came round as a neighbour's boy and a friend."

When pressed, there were moments, though, when Steven admits he had thoughts that would worry any parent.
He said: "At one point I thought I had a bit of a problem and I spoke to a psychologist and they said everyone has fantasies about young boys and girls, the problem comes when they act on them."
Things changed dramatically, however, when former Ashburton and Stanley Tech schoolboy

Brenton told Steven how he felt about him, shortly before he turned 16.

Steven recalled: "A couple of weeks before his birthday he had been here a little longer than he normally stayed.

"I told him I was going for a lie down. Within a matter of minutes he was standing in the doorway. He said: 'Can I lie down' and I felt relaxed around him so I said 'fine'."

Steven says that Brenton then told him he was gay, which he insists came as a surprise.
He continued: "The next thing he says 'I love you Steve'.
Brenton's mother had desperately tried to stop the relation-ship, telling her son he was effectively being "raped".
Steven claims that she even put posters through neighbouring doors accusing him of being a paedophile,which disgusted him.
The pair spent 19 months together but Brenton suffered from severe depression.

Steven, a former corporal in the army,says this was only made worse by everyone damning their relationship.

Brenton had already taken one overdose when on January 28 last year he and Steven had a row.

Steven explained: "I went out and said: 'I may or may not be back'. I ended up at a friend's place and turned my phone off. I thought: 'I will make you worry a bit'. I went out at about 11pm and I came back at 7am or 7.30am. "I walked past the bedroom door and he was sitting up naked in bed and had lots of writing all over his body (including the words 'hell here I come' scrawled on his chest).

"I burst into laughter and said: 'You drama queen'.

"He was dopey, like he was drunk. I said: 'Have you taken something' but I could find nothing.

"I said: 'How can I phone an ambulance, I can't deal with them'. I was frightened they were going to take him away, I didn't know what to do.

"I was tired, in pain with my back. I was drained. I made him comfortable, and wiped dribble away from his mouth."

Steven then shockingly explained how for the rest of the day he left Brenton in bed, as his condition gradually deteriorated.

He said: "I thought he might have taken a few of his tablets to knock himself out. I thought he would be fine, I thought he would sleep it off.

"I checked him throughout the day. He was sort of conscious but dopified, but breathing. I thought he was being awkward.

"Later on that evening I got engrossed in the TV and I thought: 'Let him sleep'. At 11pm I got up and checked him and found he had died."

He said: "When he died I was seriously considering taking an overdose and I've tried since.I'm hanging on a thread.

"I'm sitting here contemplating taking all my drugs and ending it all so I can be with my Brenton."

Steven hopes the inquest will conclude that Brenton should have been given more help to cope with his depression and that his claims of abuse should have been taken more seriously.

He said: "All anyone ever talked about was his relationship with me. It overshadowed everything,any care he should have been getting he wasn't.

"He wasn't eating properly,he wasn't sleeping, he was constantly stressed. He was damaged and traumatised and going out of his tiny mind."

If you are finding yourself in a situation similar to this, or if you are depressed or feeling lost and hopeless, please contact us at GenQ.