AN inquest has opened into the death of a teenager who was found hanged in his cell at a Young Offenders’ Institute.

Ryan Gorton was only the second person to die at Deerbolt YOI, near Barnard Castle, since it opened in 1973 and the other had been due to a heart condition years earlier.

Sitting at Crook Coroner’s Court today, a jury of six men and five women heard how the 19-year-old was found in his single-man cell in May last year.

The youngster, of Bolton, was serving a four year sentence for causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of a knife after stabbing a fellow pupil at a learning centre in 2015.

Forensic pathologist, Peter Cooper, carried out a postmortem and said Gorton’s injuries were consistent with hanging.

He confirmed the ligature mark around his neck and the way his hands had been tied could have been self-inflicted while he had also been dead for several hours before he was found as rigor mortis had set in.

He said no drugs or alcohol were found in his system and there was nothing to suggest Gorton had been assaulted although he did find evidence of a history of self harming.

Deerbolt governor, Julie Taylor, confirmed Gorton was one of about 400 inmates at the prison at the time and had served about nine months of his sentence before his death.

During that time, she said staff had completed four Assessment Care and Custody and Teamwork (ACT) documents with Gorton which were opened if either staff or relatives raised any concerns about a prisoner.

Ms Taylor said intervention action included different levels of observation leading up to a round-the-clock watch on the inmate but a stigma was often attached to them.

One incident included Gorton cutting his earlobes.

Gorton’s personal prison officer, Richard Jeffery, described him as “very shy and quiet” when he began his sentence and “struggled to engage in activities, with other prisoners and staff and generally did not want to leave his cell”.

Mr Jeffery said the youngster improved once he moved wings in April 2016 as he settled into prison life and worked in the prison’s charity workshop and later in the gardens.

Mr Jeffery said he was “more mindful” of Gorton considering his history of self-harm but was still surprised when he threw pool balls at other inmates following a game on April 28.

Mr Jeffrey escorted him back to his cell to calm down and asked his nightshift colleagues to keep an eye on him that evening but said he had no idea why Gorton had launched the attack.

As a result he was moved wings and just four days later found dead.

The inquest will continue on Monday, March 27.