Bradley John inquest: Sister describes finding him in school toilets before he died
The sister of a 14-year-old boy has described finding her brother in a school toilet block just hours before he died in hospital.
Bradley John's sister, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the inquest at Llanelli Town Hall that her brother would often use the toilet block at St John Lloyd Catholic Comprehensive School as his "place of safety" and "somewhere he would go when he was stressed, angry or upset".
She said: "It's where he would go to cool down and have five minutes and ring Dad if there was an incident."
The 14-year-old, who was on medication for ADHD, was found in the toilet block on 12 September 2018 and later died in hospital.
Speaking at the inquest on Tuesday, Bradley's sister recalled the morning her brother died.
She said, "Bradley was his usual self", and described how it was not unusual not to see her brother at break time.
His sister also said she wasn't alarmed when the school's internal tannoy system announced Bradley was unaccounted for in lessons, and she explained to teachers that "if he was anywhere, he would be in the toilet cubicle".
"The bell rang and so I grabbed my stuff and thought I'd go by the toilet and so on my break I called by the toilet", she said.
"I was in the cubicle next door. I heard the phone vibrating and knocked on the door but there was no answer.
"I grabbed a teacher who was walking past and said 'I think I've found my brother'. She was knocking on the door, but at this point I was still more curious than concerned."
Senior Coroner Paul Benett then asked Bradley's sister to confirm that she did then find her way into the cubicle, to which she replied "yes".
When asked if she knew of any reason why her brother would decide to end his life, she said, "I genuinely at the time didn't think there was any reason or anything that should have justified it as he was just so happy".
Giving evidence on Tuesday Bradley's sister also described the "horrific" bullying she says her brother had been subjected to during his time in school.
She said "It was horrific, he was called 'gay boy', there were threats about his horses, and eventually when people realised I was his sister, the bullying came on to me as well."
She told the inquest she had reported instances of bullying, "but nothing had ever been done about it".
The inquest, which is due to last at least four days, continues.