A SCHOOLBOY found hanged in his bedroom after a “childish” argument with his sister did not intend to kill himself, a coroner has ruled.

Christopher Furniss-Roe, who was only eight years old, was found dead by his father at their home in the Trevethin area of Pontypool last year.

Gwent Coroners Court, sitting in Newport yesterday, heard how Christopher had been placed in a number of races at his school’s sports day earlier that day on July 9, 2014.

After coming home from school that afternoon, Christopher was playing outside with his younger sister when there was a “childish incident involving a bucket”, chief coroner David Bowen said.

The court heard how the girl’s bucket had somehow broken and she had suffered a cut lip.

Giving evidence in court yesterday, dad Jason Furniss-Roe said he told his son to go and have a shower and then go to bed as a minor punishment.

Quarter of an hour later, Mr Furniss-Roe went up to Christopher’s bedroom, which he shared with his younger sister, and found his son hanging from his bunk bed’s guard rail with a belt around his neck, the court heard.

Mr Furniss-Roe cut his son down and performed first aid involving cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but Christopher was taken to hospital and had his life support machine switched off the following day.

Dr Stephen Leadbeatter, a consultant pathologist at the University of Wales Hospital in Cardiff, concluded in his post-mortem examination that the youngster had died as a result of hanging.

Mr Bowen said: “[Christopher] had been naughty and as a result he had been sent to his room.

“It was far more probable that he was pretending to hang himself to get sympathy and forgiveness.

“But it all went tragically wrong.

“A heart-wrenching decision was made to turn that [life support] machine off the following day.”

Mr Bowen recorded a verdict of accidental death.