Teenager died trying to build DVD player

A Black Country teenager was killed by an electric shock as he tried to build a DVD player, an inquest heard.

Patrick Heeks, nicknamed "Treeky" by his father Les, was 16 when he was electrocuted after coming into contact with a wire which was plugged into the socket but not attached to any equipment. The case today prompted a warning over the dangers working with electricity.

Mr Heeks, of Thorns Road, Quarry Bank, told an inquest yesterday how he had come home from work on the morning of June 29 2008 to find his son lying on the living room floor.

"When I saw him I thought he had just fallen asleep," he told Dudley coroner's court yesterday.

"But when I tried to wake him there was nothing."

He said Patrick, who he described as being "very hands-on", had been trying to create a new DVD player from two old ones, despite them having a perfectly good DVD player already.

"He loved taking things apart and putting them back together again, and had done it with loads of bits and bobs before," he added.

Electrician Roy Sherlecker, of Farm Close, Tamworth, was called to the scene by police to make sure the electricity supply was safe. He told the coroner's court he found a 13 amp plug halfway in the socket.

It was not live when tested, but he plugged it in fully it became live with a standard 230 volt charge.

Black Country coroner Robin Balmain said two collapsed red blisters had been found on Patrick's chest consistent with what might have been given by the uninsulated end of the wire. He recorded a verdict of death by accident.

A tearful Mr Heeks said: "There's not a day goes by I don't think of him, and miss him."

Today Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents spokeswoman Jo Stagg said: "We advise people thinking of carrying out any kind of electrical work that they stick within their abilities and be aware of the risks."