THE family of a 16-year-old boy found dead in a park say they had “no reassurance of help” from the police after an inquest jury recorded a suicide verdict.

Tom Gallagher was found hanged in Old Kays Park, Tottington, on July 11 last year.

The seven-day inquest had heard that the former Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School pupil, of Holcombe Road, Greenmount, had suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder and psychosis.

In evidence given by several officers, Greater Manchester Police admitted that staff shortages had delayed the search for the teenager, who was last seen at around 8pm the previous night and was reported missing at 2.44am by his family.

Inspector Robert Findlow told the inquest that only seven officers were on duty in Bury that night rather than the expected 15 and that there were an exceptionally high number of ‘grade one’ calls.

Because of that, there were at least 14 delays in responding to the missing report, which was categorised as ‘grade two’, and no return call was made to the family.

The jury found that Tom had died before the call to police was made at 2.44am. They also noted the lack of police contact to the family and a lack of justification for the delays.

A statement from Tom’s parents, Angela and Gabriel, after the conclusion of the inquest said: “Tom’s inquest and IPCC investigation has revealed a series of serious failings including a complete lack of adherence to force policies and procedures, as well as inadequate staffing levels.

“GMP breached their own emergency response policy in failing to call us back, allocate our need to an officer or escalate their inability to resource our call. We had no reassurance or help.

“We are pleased GMP admitted some of the failings, however, despite Tom’s death being over a year ago, GMP has made few improvements to their training and response procedures regarding child mental health and risk assessments.

“We are pleased with the coroner’s recommendations to GMP calling for improvements to their systems.”

They added that Tom, who aspired to study at Oxford, was a “confident and caring” boy.

The coroner, Lisa Hashmi, had earlier told the jury to consider how “admitted failings” by GMP contributed to Thomas’s death.

In summary, she said: “This case has been extremely difficult for all those involved, but no more than for the parents of this young man and his extended family, who have been in court throughout.

“I don’t think there are any words to say other than that it always touches my heart to be part of inquests of this nature.

“Whilst I am a coroner, I am also a parent so I can fully appreciate - although I’m not in your shoes - how dreadful it will have been to sit through the circumstances again.”

She added: ‘I appreciate that you will never forget your cherished son and nephew - and nor should you - and I do hope that with time your pain eases.”

Tom’s mother, Angela, was said to have heard about her son’s death from a member of the public when she saw police and other people gathered at the park.

The jury also heard that Tom had previously taken paracetamol overdoses and confided in a teacher, in what was described as a “cry for help”, and had also previously tried to take his own life by ligature.

Chief Superintendent Chris Sykes, of Bury Police, said: "Thomas Gallagher’s death was a tragedy and our deepest condolences remain with his family.

"Unfortunately, it was not possible for GMP to resource the original missing report, due to staff abstractions and a higher than usual number of incidents on the night.

"Over the course of the last year, we have been actively reviewing our systems and policies on the Bury division to ensure that we can respond to unanticipated spikes in demand and get resources to those members of the public that need them.

"In May 2016, changes were implemented in Bury under the Local Policing Review, which included implementing new shift patterns, to better align police resources to demand.

"A ‘triage and resolution desk’ was also introduced to bring together officers and staff from different teams to be based together in one place; to better risk-assess incoming demand and respond effectively.

"While the jury concluded that none of the shortcomings in GMP’s response caused or contributed in any way to Tom’s death, we fully acknowledge the comments made by the jury in delivering their conclusion at the inquest.

"We will also await the coroner’s report on any recommendations.”