A FATHER has told of his anguish after the ‘hoodie’ teenage son he ‘kicked out’ onto the streets was found hanged months later.

Adam Fox, 17, was found dead in Bold Venture Park, Darwen, after suffering depression.

It was a week after he took an overdose of 65 painkillers at a hostel in the town.

At the inquest, in Blackburn town hall, his father Ian questioned the care his son received from social services and the county’s Youth Offending Team.

Mr Fox said Adam had been a well-behaved boy until he was around 14.

He began to get into the “wrong crowd” when he was around 15 years old and started drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis, the inquest was told.

Mr Fox said his son also began committing petty crimes. Adam was convicted of assaults and thefts and had “numerous” fixed penalty notices for thefts and violence, the inquest heard.

Mr Fox said: “Adam was polite and well-behaved but when he was around 15 his behaviour deteriorated.

“Things got very bad and he was in a lot of trouble with the police and was suspended several times from school.

“I was worried that he was starting to have an effect on his brother and I couldn’t let it continue.

"He was always hanging around with his hoodie mates, getting involved in trouble.

“I would ground him when he was bad and buy him presents when he was good to encourage him.

“Things got worse and I kicked him out in July last year. I had no other option, I was at my wit’s end.”

Mr Fox said he knew his son initially started sleeping rough and began breaking into the family home, in Yew Tree Close in Chorley, during the day for money.

He said the last time he saw his son alive was in July last year when he kicked him out after discovering cannabis smoking materials in his bedroom. Adam died this March.

Mr Fox said: “I would have grabbed the chance to speak to anybody or any of the authorities about Adam but I was never given the chance.”

The social worker who was assigned to Adam told the inquest that he had asked her not to contact his father, a decision she had to respect because of confidentiality regulations.

Coroner Michael Singleton heard that after a conviction of assault in September last year he was referred to social services and the Chorley Youth Offending team, to find him accommodation and also to address his behaviour.

His social worker, Helen Fairhurst , who works for Lancashire County Council, said she first placed Adam in the Cotswold House hostel in Chorley before more permanent accommodation was found at the Foyer in Blackburn off Prince’s Street.

He later moved to the James Street hostel, Darwen.

Mr Singleton asked: “Why take a vulnerable 16-year-old to another town away from the support of his family and friends?”

Miss Fairhurst replied: “He wanted to maintain his independence and we respected that.

"The most appropriate place for him was in the Foyer where he could access the services he needed.

“Adam was adamant that he didn’t want us to contact his father.”

Mr Fox told the hearing his wife Penelope, who died when Adam was three, had suffered mental health problems.

He asked know why no-one had asked him about any history of mental illness in his family.

Miss Fairhurst said: “I was never concerned about his mental health.

"We were monitoring his well being on a daily basis.

"He was always seemed polite. I was very surprised when I heard about the overdose.”

Elaine Swift, Adam’s Youth Offending Team case worker, said: “He seemed to be coping and wasn’t displaying any signs of depression.”

She was asked if she had asked Adam if there was any history of mental illness in his family.

Mrs Swift replied: “I would not under those circumstances do that.

"It was only in the last few months that I found out.”

The court heard that in the week before his death Adam had taken an overdose of 65 paracetamol tablets.

Then on March 11 at just before 11am Adam was found hanging in Bold Venture park from a metal pergola near the duck pond by a man walking his dog.

The inquest is due to finish today.