A schoolboy hanged himself after being bullied for being vegan by other pupils who threw meat at him in the canteen, an inquest heard.

Louie Tom Fenton, 12, was found dead in his family bathroom on January 19.

He had endured years of bullying because of his veganism and had meat thrown at him during his lunch break, Hertfordshire Coroner's Court in Hatfield heard.

His mother, Catherine Fenton, wrote a letter to the court about the bullying he suffered.

She wrote: "He had regular appointments with the counsellor and he started self-harming. They threw meat at him in the canteen because he was a vegan."

To avoid the bullying, the court heard that Louie would often go outside to eat and he picked up a smoking habit to deal with the stress of bullying.

The coroner was told that the mother approached the school, Richard Hale School, in Hertford, several times, but the bullying continued.

No statement from Louie's school was presented at the inquest, except police notes from an interview with head teacher Stephen Neate.