A YOUNG Dudley man with a history of mental health problems was found hanged from a tree, an inquest heard.

Brandon McDonald killed himself in a wooded area near Canal Street, Dudley, on September 9 last year.

The 20-year-old labourer had been out with friends the night before his death but had not returned home, his mum Jo McDonald told Black Country Coroner's Court.

"Nobody had heard from him and his phone was off," she said.

"I text his friends and everybody said they had seen him on Friday and he was fine, laughing and joking."

Mrs McDonald said that she kept trying to contact her son throughout the day but his phone remained off.

"At about 8.30pm, I went into the local shop and the lady behind the counter said 'have you heard?' I went 'heard what?' and she said they had found a body. I knew it was Bran."

The heartbroken mum told the inquest how her sister had received a text from Brandon on the morning of his death, which read 'I'm sorry, I love you all'.

She said her son had a history of emotional issues - he was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of five and had been known to self-harm.

Today's inquest heard he also felt guilty following the death of a close friend, dabbled with recreational drugs, had recently been in trouble with the police, experienced a relationship breakdown and struggled to cope with the loss of his grandfather.

Mrs McDonald said that Brandon was under the care of the Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust and had been attending appointments at Bushey Fields Hospital, however she said there had been an instance when he had gone to the Dudley hospital for help ahead of a scheduled appointment and was turned away until his GP intervened.

"He was really upset," she said. "He said he was trying but he didn't think anybody wanted to help him."

Senior Coroner Zafar Siddique said Brandon's death had instigated an investigation within the trust, which found that it had "failed to fully identify the full extent of life stresses on the patient and associated risks of self harm/suicide".

Mr Siddique said a detailed action plan had since been implemented to "reduce risk of reoccurrence" adding: "Lessons appear to have been learned."

He said a post-mortem had found paracetamol, cocaine and anti-depressants in Brandon's system at the time of his death, which was caused by asphyxia due to hanging.

Mr Siddique concluded that Brandon, who lived in Beech Road, had committed suicide in "tragic circumstances".

Following the inquest, a spokesman for Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, told the News: “We would like to express our sincerest condolences to the family of Brandon McDonald following this tragic incident.

“Every death causes untold sadness to families and also to the NHS staff involved in the patient’s care.

“We have completed a thorough investigation to look at the circumstances surrounding this incident to understand if there was anything more that we could have done.

“The nature of our services is to help people when they need it most, and we will do all that we can to improve our services, providing help and support to those who are most vulnerable.”