Heartbroken mums have paid tribute to their sons, who are half siblings, after they took their own lives within a year of each other.

Leon Junior had found out he was to appear on the next series of Channel 4's The Circle just days before his death.

The 21-year-old, of Brunswick Walk, Gravesend, was found in woodland near his home.

An inquest found Leon, who had been furloughed from his job at Gravity Trampoline Park in Bluewater, had taken his own life but there was "no single trigger".

In a further tragedy, just under a year later, Leon's older half brother Tashan Larmond-Maginn died in April this year in similar circumstances.

Over the weekend, Leon's mum Sheena Hamid, alongside Tashan's mum and other family and friends, gathered at Shorne Woods Country Park to pay tribute to both.

Balloons bearing the names of the siblings were released and a bench was decorated with Leon's name and various tributes.

Now a year on since his tragic death, mum Sheena has spoken of the impact her son Leon's suicide has had, as well as the recent loss of his half-brother.

Leon had been a popular contestant on E4's reality TV series Club Rep Wars and had enjoyed his 12-month stint working and living in Tenerife.

She described her son as "bubbly" and "intelligent" and someone who "could have done anything in this world".

Growing up, Leon possessed a flair for gymnastics and competed at various different events but his talents were not confined to a single area and he regularly excelled at different activities and jobs, she said.

She added: "Whatever he did he put his heart and soul into it and came out on top every time."

Leon was also hugely popular among his friends and would "always have a big smile on his face".

"I still remember dropping Leon off at school," she added. "He went down the road and all I heard was these voices shouting 'Leon, Leon, Leon'.

"I turned around and there are all these little girls chasing him down the road."

Leon's death came as a huge shock to mum Sheena, who said her son always had massive lust for life and "grabbed every opportunity" that came his way.

There had been one incident in his teens but she brushed it aside after he had admitted he was being "silly".

"It was not something that we expected, he always came across bubbly and was so well loved," she said.

"He had so many friends that loved him so much and a family that would bend over backwards to give him what he wanted," she said.

Following his death there was an outpouring of grief in the community.

Sheena says she took some comfort from the messages and support of Leon's friends and former employers who came forward to share individual stories of how Leon had helped them.

One young woman told Sheena he had helped her when she was suffering with her own mental health.

If it had not been for last year's tragic events, Sheena believes Leon could have gone on to forge a successful career in TV, perhaps as a presenter.

In the weeks leading up to his death, she said her son had been perhaps a "little quieter than usual" but she didn't think it was anything to worry about.

She reflects on the last few times she spoke to him. The first after a supermarket trip together, and later when Leon arrived at her house upset over his secondhand bike which needed repairing.

Sheena said: "I think about it now and that last couple of times he did seem a little bit quiet. As a mum you notice but I never thought too much of it.

"In lockdown he was really throwing himself into exercise. We even spoke about going running together and he joked 'only if you can keep up with me'."

Sheena raised both Leon and her other four children as a single mother.

She explained how this was tough and while she was "strict" at times she always encouraged them all to pursue the opportunities she was not afforded in life.

The mum-of-five went on to describe losing both her son Leon and later his half-brother Tashan who he was close with as "soul destroying".

"It is soul destroying to lose a child but to lose Tashan as well is a big loss," she said.

"It is heartbreaking because that is my child's brother and it is another life. Another life that is just gone."

And while Sheena says the conversation about mental health has improved, she says there still needs to be more help available.

She said: "We just can't go on like this, it can't keep happening to these young boys, these lads, these young men. There must be more out there."

"These are two siblings who took their own lives. I really do feel we should be shouting from every rooftop every single day.

"I can't turn the clock on my child, I can't turn the clock on Tashan but if there is more help out there, if it helps just one family and stops them from having to go through what me and my family have gone through it's got to be worth it."

For confidential support on an emotional issue, call Samaritans on 116 123 at any time or click here

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