A mother has told how her son "snuffed out" his life chasing his dream of becoming a movie stuntman.

Grant Plowman, 14, was found hanged in his bedroom by his 15-year-old sister Laura.

His parents believe he was attempting a trick which went horribly wrong.

His mother, Sandy King, from Crawley, said: "All through his childhood he wanted to be a stunt man and we feel that may have been part of all this. When he died there was no note. He had never done anything like that before or mentioned anything to do with suicide.

"I hope it was a terrible prank that went wrong. I think he was sitting on the edge of his window ledge and was messing about with the belt to see what it was like to wear a noose. Maybe he wanted to scare us.

"Then I think he lost concentration and slipped.

"He shouldn't have snuffed his life out. I'm so sad to think he will never do any of the things he hoped to have done in his life.

"I keep thinking, 'If only I had got to him sooner' but I know it's no use now."

Mrs King told how she had come home to the "usual argy-bargy" between Grant and his sister and sent them to their rooms until they could behave better.

She busied herself about the family home while her husband Bob, Grant's stepfather, went to the supermarket. Within a hour Laura had discovered her brother's body.

Mrs King said: "I asked Laura to go upstairs to see what Grant was up to. She came straight back down and said he was hanging from the window with a belt round his neck.

"I went straight up and saw him hanging there. I took the belt out of the window and started resuscitation.

"I realised something terrible had happened and I screamed downstairs for someone to call an ambulance."

Grant was found at 7.30pm on Saturday, April 14, and arrived at Crawley Hospital at 8.25pm but it was too late. It was then he was certified dead.

Mrs King said: "When he was in the ambulance I knew he was dead but even then I still prayed that some miracle gadget at the hospital could bring him back to us.

"The policewoman that came with us was so sensitive. She was in tears too. I went to see Grant in the mortuary and he was still lying on the pillow they took from his room which was some small comfort to me.

"I said goodbye to him there but before I left I sang Kumbyah to him just like I did when he was small and I used to sing him to sleep."

Grant, described as "a typical teenager" by his parents, was enjoying his Easter break from Ifield Community College in Crawley where he had only recently taken his options on which GCSEs he was to study in his final years.

His distraught family described how he loved to be outdoors with his friends skateboarding or playing football.

The dedicated Arsenal fan was a keen player for local youth side Ferngate FC.

Mr King, who became Grant's stepfather following his marriage to Sandy in February, said: "He was a wonderful lad. He had so many friends and was liked by the girls too.

"He was always very happy and always loved his sports. Football, skateboarding, ice skating - you name it, he did it."

Grant's bedroom has been left untouched since the tragedy. His treasured designer clothes, CDs and poster-strewn walls are just as he left them.

His family plan to set up a fund in his name to benefit other youngsters in the Crawley area.

Mrs King said: "Grant was a much-loved son. The 14 years he was in my life was like a hurricane compared to the calmness and loneliness I feel without him. I only hope the memorial fund will make some sense of a tragedy that should never have happened."