A CORONER has urged troubled youngsters not to put their lives at risk.

The warning follows the death of 12-year-old Sophie Llewellyn, who was found hanged by her twin sister.

An inquest at West Dorset Coroner’s Court heard that Sophie, from Weymouth, was a popular, happy girl, who was always singing and had aspirations to be an actress.

It was revealed that on the morning of Sunday, March 1, Sophie and her mum Julie had had a minor disagreement after her mum cancelled their plans to visit a relative in Bath and instead decided to go shopping in Poole.

Sophie was told to cancel her plans to meet her best friend and was heard ‘stamping’ up the stairs to the bedroom she shared with twin Amy, 12, and older sister Lindsey, 15, in their family home on Boot Hill in Rodwell Road. Her twin went up later and found her hanging from the bunk bed.

Amy screamed and summoned her mum and older brother Scott, 17, who tried to revive Sophie before the emergency services arrived.

Sophie was pronounced dead on arrival to Dorset County Hospital.

The inquest heard that Sophie had made previous threats to hang herself at a Girl Guide camp.

Sophie, who attended All Saints School in Wyke Regis, told one of her close friends that she had tried to hang herself before. Detective Constable Lucy Cummings said that a week before Sophie’s death she had been teased and called an ‘emo’ and had to be stopped from retaliating by a teacher.

‘Emo’ is a term used to describe followers of emotionally-charged punk-style music.

DC Cummings added that from her investigation she concluded that it had been a ‘very normal weekend’ and that Sophie had planned to meet friends that day.

In Sophie’s last phone call to her friend she had complained about not being able to meet her but said ‘I love you’ before ending the call.

On the morning of her death she wrote to friends on her social networking page on Bebo that her life was ‘so gay’ but made no threats to her family and friends.

The inquest was told that Sophie’s father David had died in December 2008, but that she had little contact with him and did not attend his funeral.

A statement was read from pathologist Doctor Theresa Thomas that confirmed that the cause of death was hanging.

West Dorset Coroner Michael Johnston recorded a narrative verdict and said that he is not satisfied that Sophie meant to kill herself.

He said: “On March 1, after a minor disagreement with her mother, Sophie went upstairs and was later found hanging from a bunk bed.

“I think this was unintentional – she didn’t intend to kill herself.

“Sophie was a little dramatic maybe and chose to do this thinking that somebody would come upstairs and try to reason with her – that didn’t happen.''

He warned other youngsters against making similar gestures: “You are dead when you are dead – you don’t come back and talk to your friends on Bebo or MySpace or YouTube.

“If you want to make a gesture do a bit of shouting and yelling.

“Don’t do something that puts your life in jeopardy – once you are dead, you stay dead.

“Quite a few youngsters and adults just don’t understand that.”