A high-flying student and ‘perfect son’ shot himself dead two days after being arrested for drink driving as he ‘thought he’d ruined his future’, an inquest has heard.

Joe Lawton, 17, was found by his dad after shooting himself with a shotgun on the living room sofa of his family’s £850,000 farm house in Disley, Stockport.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, alongside a charge sheet handed to him two days earlier by Cheshire Police in August, 2012.

It later emerged the Poynton High School student had been detained and charged after being pulled over on his way home from a party in Prestbury three weeks after passing his driving test.

An inquest into his death heard the model pupil – who had recently gained one A and four Bs in his AS Levels – was planning his university application and travelling plans and had shown no sign of depression or anxiety.

But a note found next to his body said he feared being a ‘constant disappointment’.

Dad, Nick Lawton, told Macclesfield Coroner’s Court: “What he means by that is he can see himself being a disappointment in the future.

“He had never been a disappointment, he was a very high achiever, he did everything that was asked of him.

"He was a perfect son and loved by everyone.

“He thought he’d ruined his future and he wouldn’t be able to reach the standards he wanted to reach.”

On the night of his arrest, Joe had driven friends to Poynton and left his car there before catching a train to the party, where he was due to sleep over.

But he was arrested in the early hours and taken to Cheadle Heath Police Station after failing a roadside breath test.

Joe had been due to appear at Stockport Magistrates Court two days after his death.

His family didn’t know of his arrest on August 9, 2012, until after the tragedy and have since campaigned for a change in the law to see anyone aged 17 or under treated as a child in custody.

The previous limit was 16 and meant no parent or guardian needed to be called when Joe was arrested.

Nick said: “He was 17 and had been treated as an adult and I said straight away that was wrong. There was an anomaly in the system.”

Joe had been due to give his dad a lift home from a friend’s house in Adlington on the night of his death but he called his father to say he wanted to go to bed instead.

It was the last time they spoke.

The court heard from former Poynton High School head teacher Sue Adamson, who said Joe had been a ‘model student’.

She said: “He was an exemplary student in every respect and staff feel very privileged to have worked with him over the years.

“He was conscientious, punctual, well-presented and completely reliable. He had impeccable manners and was always respectful of staff and his peers.”

The inquest continues.

Families affected by suicide can contact the national charity Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide on 0300 111 5065.