A UNIVERSITY student who had to re-sit his first year exams and had broken up with his girlfriend was found hanged, an inquest heard yesterday.

Andrew Hetherington, 21, of St John's, Isle of Man, was studying law at Durham and sharing a house in the city's Crossgate with five other students.

In May, some of his housemates found him hanging from a banister by a ligature made from an electric cord.

He had sent a series of text messages to his ex-girlfriend shortly before his death.

Mr Hetherington had been suffering from depression, the inquest heard, and housemate Benjamin Kirby described him as "quite a quiet guy''.

Mr Kirby said he had seemed to "resign himself'' to re-taking his exams. After the relationship break-up, he was upset but "no more than expected'', he said

Mr Kirby said that Mr Hetherington gave no indication he planned to harm himself.

Mr Hetherington's father, Adrian, said he did not believe his son planned to kill himself and that it might have been a cry for help or an experiment that went wrong.

He said his son had been told that if things did not work out in Durham he could return home.

"No way would he have thought he was going to get any aggro or retribution from his parents,'' he said.

North Durham coroner Andrew Tweddle said Mr Hetherington was "quite a troubled young man''. He recorded an open verdict, saying that he had a small doubt about what Mr Hetherington's intentions had been.