Thomas Thompson had been bullied for several years

Thomas Thompson, from Merseyside, was found dead in his bedroom after taking up to 20 pain killers, which on their own would not have proved fatal.

However, as the inquest was formally opened and adjourned, the coroner said the damage done by a previous overdose would have combined to be lethal.

Outside the hearing on Tuesday, Thomas's father Andrew Welsh disputed the claim the bullying had caused his son to commit suicide.

Wirral coroner Christopher Johnson, confirmed there were no suspicious circumstance surrounding how Thomas died.

The 11-year-old was confirmed dead in hospital, after his mother Sandra, discovered him after he took the overdose, at their home in Beechcroft Road, Wallasey, on 2 July.

It looks like he had been trying to kill himself over a couple of days or weeks Andrew Welsh, Thomas's father

Mr Johnson said: "A toxicological sample by the pathologist confirms there were no suspicious circumstances.

"By the condition of his liver it shows an overdose of paracetamol but prior to the date and time of collapse."

Coroners officer Arthur Flowers described what Mrs Thompson found when she went in to her son's bedroom.

"There was a glass of milk found with a packet of coproxamol under the chair and an empty strip in a wastepaper basket.

"Each contains ten pills, denoting twenty pills missing. A third packet was found full."

Toxicology tests

Mr Flowers said a blood sample, taken in hospital, showed his bloodstream contained 150 units of paracetamol, a level that, on its own, was unlikely to prove fatal.

He added that the outcome of toxicology tests are awaited to help establish the cause of death.

Outside the hearing Andrew Welsh, Thomas's father, disputed his son had killed himself because of bullying.

He said: "It looks like he had been trying to kill himself over a couple of days or weeks.

"Thomas never expressed any concerns about school. We talked about the bullying issues but he just laughed it off.

"I don't believe the bullies made him commit suicide."

The full inquest was adjourned until 18 September.