A TEENAGER turned to religion to help him cope with psychological problems before taking his own life, an inquest heard.

Preston Coroner's Court was told that 17-year-old Bilal Fazal spent hours every day praying at the Clarendon Mosque, in Preston.

His older brother, Usman Khan, told the court yesterday (Wednesday) that it was not unusual for Bilal to spend more than five hours a day at the Clarendon Street mosque.

Mr Fazal described his brother as a changed character in search of spiritual guidance after being discharged from the Avondale Unit, at the Royal Preston Hospital, where he had spent three to four weeks under observation for psychological problems.

He said: "There was no fear in the family's mind that he would do something like this. "Bilal had changed himself for the better and had become very religious and liked helping people. We were all very pleased with his progress. He would pray at the Mosque daily and kept a beard like his father. We are Muslims and so it is very important to pray on Fridays but Bilal was praying every day. He would get up at 4am to go to the mosque."

Mr Fazal said that his brother left the family home in Ashley Street, Preston, to live with him in Huddersfield while he was studying for a degree at Sheffield University.

"I was not concerned for him at all," he said. "While I was at university he used to teach local men and he wanted to go to the Islamic University, in Egypt, to do a degree in religious studies."

But, the court heard that on October 15 last year, Bilal hanged himself from a tree near the mosque car park. Other people who were attending the mosque cut him down before the police arrived and he was taken to the Royal Preston Hospital.

He was transferred to Chorley Hospital and put on a ventilator but he died four days later on October 18.

Coroner, Howard McCann, recorded a verdict of suicide.

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