A MOTHER watched as rescuers tried in vain to save the life of a student who had plunged off a cliff - not realising it was her own son.

Pat Robson sat in the conservatory of her home and watched as an RAF helicopter hovered over the cliffs.

She had no idea that the paramedics were trying to save her 20-year-old son, Ian Smith, who had fallen from Claxheugh Rocks, in South Hylton, Sunderland.

Hours later, when police officers arrived on her doorstep she learned the truth - she had been a spectator to her own son's death.

Fighting back tears, mother-of-five Mrs Robson, 51, said: "I haven't been able to go into the conservatory since. All I can think is that while I was sitting there watching, it was my boy who was dying.

"I saw the paramedic being lowered down from the helicopter. Now I know he was going down to try to resuscitate Ian. But they couldn't. He'd fallen too far."

Ian, who would have turned 21 later this month, was getting ready to return to Leeds University this week to continue his English degree.

A couple out walking saw him standing on top of Claxheugh Rocks at about 1.55pm on Saturday.

But around the time rescue services reached the scene, Ian plunged from the cliff and landed on a ledge 80ft down.

Pat, of St Lukes Road, South Hylton said: "He didn't die immediately. The paramedics went down and put an oxygen mask on, and when he stopped breathing they tried to resuscitate him.

"I wanted to believe he had died instantly - that there had been no pain. I can't bear the idea that he was in pain."

"The police don't know yet whether he jumped or slipped. Obviously, we hope he slipped. He liked walking, so he may have fallen ."

Ian lived with his father Brian Smith, 66, a lollipop man, in Claxheugh Road.

And while his mother watched the dramatic rescue half a mile away, his father also heard helicopters pass overhead and hovering at the cliff edge.

He said: "A lot of people from the street went down to watch, but I didn't go. I never even considered it would be Ian.