A TEENAGER died from two thrusts of a knife into his chest an inquest was told yesterday.

Wayne Bircham, 19, had a single stab wound to the left side of his chest, said a Home Office pathologist at the Middlesbrough inquest into his killing in Grangetown, on June 10.

But Doctor James Sunter said that the knife had been thrust twice without being fully withdrawn.

Mr Bircham, unemployed and single from Rudland Court, Whale Hill, Eston, died soon after his admission to Middlesbrough General Hospital. He was formally identified by his mother Michelle Bircham, 37, of Tennyson Close, Grangetown.

He also had a serious stabbing injury to his left forearm from a few days earlier caused by a larger knife, said the pathologist.

Two men and a juvenile have been committed to stand trial at Teesside Crown Court over his killing, said Detective Sergeant David Turnbull of Redcar. Coroner Michael Sheffield formally adjourned the inquest pending the conclusion of the Crown Court proceedings.