A TEENAGER who died on Christmas Eve had suffered a fit triggered by an undetected brain tumour, an inquest was told.

Scott Holden was in bed at home in Newlands, Pershore, on Saturday, December 24, when he was found dead.

An inquest at Worcestershire Coroner’s Court in Stourport-on-Severn was told that the 16-year-old had been in town Christmas shopping with his dad, Nick, that morning.

When he returned home at about 11am the Pershore High School student, who was studying for his GCSEs, had some food before complaining about feeling tired and going to bed.

At 2pm Mr Holden called up to Scott who replied he was “just resting”.

Two hours later, Mr Holden, who suffers from ill health and uses a wheelchair, remembered they had forgotten some things.

His usual signal to Scott when he needed his assistance was to use a mop handle to bang on the ceiling as he could not easily climb the stairs.

He became concerned when Scott did not respond.

Mr Holden struggled upstairs and found his son in his bedroom.

The emergency services were called, but Scott was pronounced dead at the scene.

A post mortem examination conducted by Dr Terry Jones found Scott had a brain tumour about 20mm in diameter, which had caused a fatal epileptic fit. Coroner Geraint Williams told the inquest that Scott helped to care for his father when he was not at school and was a fit and healthy teenager who had never smoked or drunk alcohol.

Mr Williams said he was described by his father as “level-headed and sensible”.

The coroner recorded the cause of death as an epileptic fit caused by oligodendroglioma of the left cerebral temporal gyrus and returned a verdict of natural causes.

Speaking after the inquest, Scott’s sister Kate Cook said his untimely death had been “horrendously sad” and said it was nice for the family to have some closure.

Earlier this month, hundreds of people attended a memorial football match held in Scott’s honour between his teammates from Drakes Broughton Rangers Football Club and young players from other clubs in the league.

About £1,600 was raised from the match itself for Midlands Air Ambulance and the total could rise to more than £2,000 thanks to a grand prize draw, the winners of which will be revealed at the club’s presentation night in May.

It is hoped the memorial match will become an annual fixture.

Scott’s family had previously paid tribute to him, saying that he was “genuine, lovely lad”, who “put 100 per cent into everything he did”.

Speaking in January, Mrs Cook said: “I didn’t know anyone who didn’t like him.

“He did a paper round and was hard-working.

“He always loved his sport and football has been a very big thing in his life.

“He’d rush to open doors for me. He just had brilliant manners. He would have gone far, he was a good boy.”