A 15-YEAR-OLD boy from Northern Moor who died when he fell from a third floor stairwell at his college feared he was drifting away from his friends, an inquest heard.

Talented tennis player George Brankov suffered serious head and chest injuries after falling at the UTC MediaCity building in Salford Quays on the afternoon of June 3, 2019.

Ambulance crews raced to the scene at 3.30pm and took the teenager to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital in a critical condition but he never regained consciousness and was declared dead at 4.40pm.

At Bolton Coroners Court, George’s mother, Tania Brankov, said her son, who studied interactive media at UTC was “very bright and sensitive” but suffered badly from the effects of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

When he was six-years-old he had become very ill on a holiday to Bulgaria resulting in a “traumatic” stay in hospital which had left him suffering flashbacks of other children dying.

Mrs Brankov described how George had suffered from “periods of unhappiness” in 2014 and 2016 and in March 2019 he had been referred for counselling.

On May 20 he had visited his GP at Northern Moor Surgery who had referred George to the newly-established rapid response team who provide risk assessment and management for young people who are experiencing a mental health crisis.

Working with George’s parents and contacting UTC to create a crisis plan, mental health practitioner Kirstie Beasley told the court how he had told her he had been stockpiling paracetamol and had thought about ending his life by jumping but was fearful of paralysing himself or someone else seeing him and laughing.

George was refereed to South Manchester Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) but an issue with e-mail confidentiality led to a delay in them receiving the right information on the teenager and Ms Beasley said he had been forced to deliver the documents by hand.

The court heard how on June 3, George had walked his girlfriend to school before arriving at UTC where he attended lessons in the morning. In the afternoon he had arrived at another lesson but left without the teacher’s knowledge with CCTV showing how he had gone into a toilet before being seen on his mobile phone.

Greater Manchester Police coroners officer Julie-Ann Hyde said George’s phone records showed he had been texting a friend before phoning him and telling him he was going to kill himself.

He then told his friend to “hug his parents” and that no-one cared about him before saying “three, two, one”.

CCTV footage then showed him putting the phone down, checking no one was at the bottom of the stairs and climbing over the bannister before falling to his death.

Ruth Bradbury, who was principal of UTC at the time, said a number of changes had been made at the college following George’s death including more staff having access to CCTV to see if students were not in lessons.

Consultant adolescent psychiatrist Louise Theodosiou confirmed she had compiled a report into George’s death and changes had been made to internal communications.

Recording a conclusion of suicide, Coroner Stephen Teasdale, said: “George was a polite, kind and athletic boy who was also sociable but I think this became a hindrance as it was his perception he was losing his social circle and it was causing him some distress at the end.”