A schoolboy of 13 hanged himself after he racked up a £420 bill on his mother’s credit card by downloading games on to his Xbox, an inquest heard.
Henry Tattersall borrowed the card to buy computer games over four days, as a Christmas present to himself.
When the bank statement arrived in the post his mother Eve confronted him over the amount of money he had spent.
The teenager later went to his bedroom and did not respond when he was called down to dinner.
His 16-year-old sister Holly went up to get him and found her brother hanged in his room.
Despite efforts to resuscitate him he was later pronounced dead.
The youngster was found to have written on his Facebook page 15 minutes before he was discovered: ‘I’m going to kill myself.’
Henry was the second pupil from the same school to kill himself in just six months.
Classmate Declan Gatenby, 13, was found hanged in July last year after a row with his parents over their confiscation of his mobile phone.
The pair had both been at Fearns Community College, in Bacup, Lancashire, although Henry – who was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) – moved to Brambles East special school, in nearby Darwen, in September.
Miss Tattersall, 35, told the hearing: ‘I personally believe that Henry was very shocked at the amount of money he had spent. He was upset that I was upset. He was upset that he had spent the money and we weren’t in a position to be able to afford that amount of money. He spent £422 over four days on it.’
Costing anything between £4 and £50 each, online video games can be downloaded to an Xbox and played immediately.
Miss Tattersall said she could hear Henry talking out of his upstairs bedroom window to a friend at 4.20pm on the day he died, but that he did not respond when she called him down for his dinner at 5pm.
As well as Henry’s Facebook message there was a discussion on the social media site between some of his friends about Declan Gatenby’s grave.
Detective Inspector Jim Elston said there was no evidence from Henry’s phone that he had been bullied or had researched suicide methods prior to his death.
Coroner Richard Taylor recorded a verdict of misadventure, adding that he believed Henry ‘intended to be found’.
He said: ‘I am always suspicious and sceptical as to the intentions of children of such a young age as to whether or not they actually understand what’s going to happen to them. Leaving his door open? It strikes me that he had a very guilty conscience, but he clearly dwelt on this and was upset at what happened.
‘Maybe the conversation on Facebook about Declan Gatenby’s grave meant it was a spur-of-the-moment decision … I believe that he hoped to make a point and expected to be found. I don’t believe it was his intention to end his life.’
Miss Tattersall said: ‘Henry’s death was a complete waste.
‘The Henry I’m holding on to is the one running up the front steps, face beaming, with two bags of Christmas shopping and his pupil of the week award … [he] has left a massive hole in the family that cannot be filled.
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