A 'FUN, loving' 20-year-old girl hung herself at her flat, an inquest has heard.

Jennifer Steadman, aged 20, was discovered by police at her home in Abingdon Close, Whitefield, on Boxing Day of last year.

Officers attended the address after Ms Steadman’s partner raised concerns about her welfare when she failed to respond to a series of texts and phone calls on Christmas Day.

She was last seen leaving a friend’s house on Christmas Eve, but when friends attempted to contact her the following day, her phone was switched off.

Today, an inquest at Rochdale Coroner’s Court concluded that she had committed suicide.

The inquest heard that Ms Steadman, the youngest of three siblings, had experiencing a troubled upbringing after her father died in a motorcycle accident when she was only four.

She and her brother and sister had subsequently spent much of her childhood living at both her mother and grandparents’ houses, as well as in care.

After leaving Castlebrook High School, Ms Steadman studied travel and tourism at Bury College and had dreamed of a career working an as air hostess so she could travel the world.

She managed to secure her own flat in Abdingdon Close, although she spent the latter part of 2017 living with her sister and friends.

However, the court heard that Ms Steadman was experiencing both financial and emotional difficulties at the time of her death.

A post-mortem examination conducted by pathologist Dr Abdul Ganjifrockwala found that her injuries were indicative of hanging.

Paying tribute, Ms Steadman's older sister Jessica described her sibling as ‘happy-go-lucky’.

She added: “She was was the life of the party. She liked to sing and she wanted to go on the X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent.

“She used to think of others first. If you walked in, she would always ask how your day was.”

Through the use of a sign language interpreter, her mother, Jeanette Armstrong, told the court that the last time she had spoke to her daughter was at the end of November, a month before her death.

She said her and her daughter were ‘very close’, but that her Ms Steadman had told her just months before her death that ‘she had had enough’.

Recording a conclusion of suicide, area coroner Lisa Hashmi said that Ms Steadman was ‘quite clearly a troubled young woman’, but also a ‘fun, loving individual’.

She added: “On the day in question, she told one person one thing and another something else. Taken against a backdrop of notes found, that supports an intention to self harm.

“I am satisfied that Jennifer intended to take her own life. There were protective factors such as close family friends and her boyfriend but those factors were not strong enough to prevent her from doing what she did.”