Tragic Cameron McWilliams had already asked for permission to wear make-up, and been teased after he was found wearing his half-sister's knickers.

His desperate mum Kelly McWilliams told a Doncaster inquest she had bought him girls' underwear to wear in private, but had refused his requests to be allowed to wear make-up.

She said: "It was apparent he was unhappy and said he wanted to be a girl. He did like girls' things."

Mrs McWilliams told a Doncaster inquest Cameron was older than his years and had expressed an interest in transvestism.

He had been teased after once being found in his half-sister's knickers, and had asked if he could wear make-up. His mum told him he would have to wait until he was older.

Mrs McWilliams found her son hanging, with a black leather belt around his neck, in his half-sister's bedroom at the family home in Montrose Avenue, Intake, Doncaster.

"When I got in the room he was not asleep, he was standing by the window with a dressing gown on," she said.

"His head was down and I realised something really serious had happened and I screamed."

The court heard Cameron was a lonely boy with no friends outside school. He spent all his time at home listening to music, playing on his XBox and using a laptop computer.

His mother revealed Cameron had been very interested in recent reports of a spate of teenage hangings in Bridgend, South Wales.

"He was not himself but he made no mention whatsoever that he would harm himself," she said. "On that day he was happy as Larry."

She said her son was in the habit of writing her notes if he wanted to discuss something, and added: "He would have asked me questions about hanging but he never did."

Doncaster coroner Stanley Hooper told the court: "I do not know what was in the mind of this little boy. All I know is he was an unhappy little boy and that he wore his sister's underclothing, and that would be a cause of worry to his mother and stepfather."

Referring to Victoria Beckham's famous claim that her husband David wore her knickers, he added: "If there is anything I can say to avoid similar fatalities in the future, I observe it is well-known that there is a very rich and successful footballer married to a pop singer who is known to have worn his wife's underwear."

Attempts by police to revive Cameron when he was found in the early hours last Monday were not successful, and his body was taken to Sheffield Children's Hospital for a post mortem examination. Inquiries into his death are continuing.

The inquest was adjourned to a later date.
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