THE High Court has ordered a fresh inquest into the death of a teenage boy who hanged himself in a secure unit.

Adam Rickwood, 14, from Burnley, became the youngest person to die in custody in modern times when he hanged himself with his shoelaces at the Hassockfield Secure Training Centre in Consett, County Durham, in 2004.

Following a five-week inquest last year, a jury found that Adam had deliberately taken his own life.

But his mother, Carol Pounder, of Greenock Close, Burnley, took the case to the High Court because the coroner had refused to rule on the legality of physical restraint methods used on Adam hours before his death.

Today, Mr Justice Blake said the force used on Adam was clearly unlawful.

"A proper inquiry into factors that might have contributed to Adam's death and formed a material circumstance as to how he came by his death required consideration of whether the staff of the centre were operating in accordance with the law in the use of force on the children assigned to their care," he said.

The judge sent the case back to Durham Coroner Andrew Tweddle for him to conduct a new inquiry before a fresh jury.

The court had heard that Adam killed himself at the 40-bed secure unit just six hours after being forcibly restrained by four adult guards and subjected to the nose distraction technique, in which pressure is applied to the nose with the deliberate intention of causing pain.

Adam was described as a "deeply troubled and deeply vulnerable child" who, despite his youth, had a history of drug abuse, self-harming and suicide attempts.

He was on remand on charges of wounding and burglary when he died at Hassockfield, a private institution run by Serco Home Affairs under a contract with the Ministry of Justice.

Adam was regarded as a model trainee and earned privileges for his good behaviour.

He had been at the centre for a month when, on the afternoon of August 8 2004, he was ordered to his cell by a staff member after he refused to hand over an offensive note written by another inmate.

He refused to go, arguing that he had done nothing wrong. It was during an ensuing struggle with officers that restraint was used on him.