The death of a 13-year-old boy whose classmate threw cheese at him and he subsequently died could have been caused by his eczema, a doctor told his inquest yesterday.

Karanbir Singh Cheema, known as Karan, suffered a serious allergic reaction to a cheese slice half the size of a 'Post-it' note.

Yesterday a consultant said it was it was "unprecedented" as he suggested the cheese may have got through the skin by an open wound on his neck caused by the scratching of his eczema.

It was said that one boy handed another boy a piece of cheese and that the second boy threw this at Karan who went into anaphylactic shock.

The incident happened at William Perkin Church of England High School.

He died ten days later on July 9 at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in central London.

The teenager was severely allergic to wheat, gluten, all dairy products, eggs and nuts and he was also asthmatic and suffered from atopic eczema.

Speaking at an inquest into Karan’s death an expert child allergist told the inquest that he had never heard or read of a young person dying after only skin contact with an allergic.