Boy, 12, is found hanged after row

A father described yesterday how he found his 12-year-old son hanging by his pyjama cord after he had been told off for smoking.

Mark Dobson was found by his father, Glen, when he returned home from work on Monday night. His wife, Vreni, said that Mark had misbehaved and was in his bedroom.

"He had been fighting with his sister, Mandy, and had been caught smoking," Mr Dobson told the Manchester Evening News.

"Vreni had sent him to his room. He had been up there for hours, as quiet as a mouse, by the time I got home."

Mr Dobson went upstairs at the family home in Wigan, Greater Manchester, to show Mark a magazine.

"When I opened the door, the room was in darkness except for the light from the TV. I saw him hanging from the top of the bunk beds he shares with my four-year-old son Dean.

"I ran over and lifted him up by his legs and lay him down on the floor. I screamed down to Vreni to call an ambulance and gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

"But he had gone cold. In my heart I knew my beautiful son was dead."

Chief Inspector Peter Fletcher, of Wigan police, said: "This is tragic. Our hearts and prayers go out to Mark's parents." He said a report was being prepared for the coroner.