TRAGIC teenager Aleysha McLoughlin cried and said sorry to her foster mum the night before her death, an inquest heard

The 16-year-old from Breightmet, who also used the name Rothwell, had spent the previous day at A&E after self-harming at school.

And less than two months before her death, Aleysha had tried to jump from the bridge over St Peter's Way in Bury Road but had been picked up by police.

Bolton Coroners Court today heard how Aleysha was found hanged on April 3 last year.

Her body was found by foster mum Beverley Sharples in her bedroom.

Mrs Sharples told the inquest: "She came in the kitchen and was crying and was really upset.

"I grabbed her and asked her why she was crying.

"She just said sorry because I'd been at hospital with her all day and she said she was a pain.

"I just said 'yes but you're my pain'."

The next morning, Aleysha came downstairs at 10am, but did not want any breakfast.

Mrs Sharples asked if she wanted to go with her to Horwich but instead Aleysha went back to bed.

When Mrs Sharples left at about 12.10pm, Aleysha was upstairs in her dressing gown and pyjamas, using her laptop.

Mrs Sharples added: "When I got back I was just doing things around the house and was not really clock-watching.

"Then I went upstairs and that is when I found her."

The day before, Mrs Sharples had been called by Aleysha's school because she had suffered a cut.

She had inflicted the wound herself and Mrs Sharples said she had not wanted to go to hospital initially before eventually being taken by paramedics.

Aleysha spent an hour and 10 minutes with a mental health consultant, which she had not consented to before.

But afterwards, the consultant said the teenager would not engage with him and they had not had long enough.

Afterwards, Aleysha told her foster mum she was "having a bad day".

Mrs Sharples told the hearing that the St Peter's Way bridge incident had come as a shock as it had happened after Aleysha had eaten a family Chinese takeaway.

Aleysha had denied any intention to jump, her foster mother added.

Forensic pathologist Dr Charles Wilson said her injuries were consistent with hanging, but said without accompanying evidence it was impossible to determine whether Aleysha intended to kill herself.

Aleysha had low levels of amphetamine and anti-depressants in her body, the hearing was told.

Dr Wilson said she might have experienced a comedown from the drug which enhanced her feelings of anxiety or depression.

The court heard that Carol Kerfoot, Aleysha's great aunt, had cared for her from July 2003 until she was 14.

Mrs Kerfoot said that Aleysha's problems began when she first got into contact with her mother's family.

In September 2012 she went missing for three months, the hearing heard.

Mrs Kerfoot said: "The changes began when Aleysha got in touch with her family, or when they got in touch with her.

"Aleysha had always maintained she did not want anything to do with them.

"Her sister got in touch with her on Facebook and it kind of snowballed from there."

The court heard that Aleysha had been an A-grade student at school and had harboured aspirations of becoming a lawyer.

The inquest continues.