THE DISTRAUGHT mother of Sam Boyd, the teenager who perished in the waters of Minehead Harbour, told how the tragedy had ripped the heart out of her family.

Speaking to the County Gazette on Monday, Louise Mundy, of West Street in the town, was adamant that Sam, 16, had not been tomb stoning' - jumping off the harbour wall into the seas - on Thursday evening, but had gone for a swim from steps at the harbour wall.

A minute's silence was held in memory of Sam at the beginning of Minehead Raft Race on Sunday.

Thousands of people stood in silence before the rafts pushed off.

She said: "I want to put our side of the story, and to put the record straight.

"He was not tomb stoning.

"The stories that have come out in the media have made Sam look like a stupid boy who didn't know what he was doing.

"He had done it once in the past and scared himself, and on this occasion he went down the steps and swam outwards because he knew he could not handle tomb stoning."

And she said despite reports to the contrary, Sam could swim.

She said: "Like most youngsters, he did not understand about the currents."

She said Sam's body was to be released by the West Somerset Coroner on Tuesday, and he was to be cremated at Taunton next week.

"I want people to know Sam was the most caring person.

"He put everyone else first, and he was at the heart of my family.

His brothers and sisters are suffering terribly.

"The accident has ripped our hearts out, and we are distraught."