A troubled teenager found hanged in his bedroom may not have intended to kill himself, an inquest has ruled.
The body of 14-year-old Ashley Banks was found by his distraught dad Shane in February.
Mr Banks, 35, had initially raised fears his son may have been bullied, describing Ashley as a ‘cheeky and cheerful lad’ and insisting ‘all I can put it down to is him being bullied’.
But at an inquest into the death, Det Con Matthew Gregory, who carried out a police investigation, ruled out bullying.
The inquest heard Ashley, a pupil at Horizon Community College, suffered attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and behavioural problems.
He had moved from Kirk Balk in Hoyland to Kingstone School because of bad behaviour and then went to Horizon when it replaced Kingstone.
He was regularly in trouble at school and had received a warning from South Yorkshire Police for stealing, the inquest was told.
But his behaviour improved when he took his medication correctly and he was ‘engaging’ with the Youth Offending Service at the time of his death, planning future activities, it was said.
His mother, Donna, said in a statement that Ashley kissed both his parents and told them he loved them before going to bed the night before his body was found.
The youngster had not left his room the next day, his family thought he was playing on his games console.
His dad went upstairs to tell him his beloved Barnsley FC had beaten Blackpool and made the horrific discovery.
Mrs Banks said when Ashley was not taking his medication correctly he wrote a letter detailing how unhappy he felt and stating he wanted to harm himself.
But medical professionals said the depression was a side-effect of his medication and changed the dose.
