Teenage prisoner killed himself a day after arriving at Swinfen Hall

Joshua Collinson was transferred to HMYOI Swinfen Hall near Lichfield on September 2 last year.

But the 18-year-old was found dead by prison staff early the next morning, the inquest at South Staffordshire Coroner's Court heard yesterday.

A jury sitting at the County Buildings in Stafford heard Collinson had told relatives he was reluctant to transfer from HMP Parc in Bridgend, South Wales, where had been serving time for a sexual offence from March 2015.

But a senior prison manager said he was aware from his arrival at Parc that he would be moved to another Young Offender Institution to complete courses which would allow him to be released after he served his four-year sentence.

Collinson, who was from Treorchy in South Wales, had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and was autistic.

In a statement, his father Lee Collinson said on meeting him it was 'obvious he had issues'.

He was obsessed in the TV show Doctor Who and found it difficult to distinguish reality from the imaginary.

Mr Collinson said it was that which led to his offence, after he met someone on social media and thought they were his girlfriend.

He said his son's erratic behaviour meant his moods went 'up and down' but overall he was 'a good boy'. His family was shocked when he received a custodial sentence which his son struggled to cope with, the jury heard.

Mr Collinson said: "The prison system was treating symptoms and not causes."

A statement made by Collinson's mother, Mandy, who died on May 23 after a terminal illness, said her son had told her he did not want to leave HMP Parc and knew he would not have a phone and television at Swinfen Hall, both of which he had in South Wales, and worried how he would contact her.

But operational manager Nicola Evans said he knew he would be leaving the prison for Swinfen Hall or HMP Aylesbury from his arrival.

Mrs Evans said: "It was a challenge every single day. One day he was the best young man, the next he was threatening to staff."

She said he would 'superfically harm himself' by scratching or on one occasion tying a TV aerial around his neck.

She added: "That was for attention. He knew a guard would be checking."

The jury heard staff at the prison had recorded six occasions of Collinson self harming from April 2015 until July 2015. They included being found with a broken plastic fork and a ligature mark on his neck and on another occasion being found with a plastic bag over his head.

Later, Mrs Evans said she felt the actions were typically 'manipulative' and usually took place when he had done something wrong or when he could not get his own way.

The inquest is expected to last for a fortnight.