A TEENAGE art student drowned himself after suffering years of bullying at school, an inquest was told.

Dominic Maynard's last words to his parents in an answerphone message were 'I told you it would come to this' before the message cut off and Dominic wasn't seen alive again.

Coroner Sheriff Payne recorded a suicide verdict at Bournemouth, Poole and East Dorset Coroner's Court.

A postmortem examination showed Dominic, 19, died of drowning.

The inquest was told that Dominic, described as 'sensitive' and 'emotional', walked out of his family home in Bridport on November 17 after an argument with his mother Penny over spending time with his brother's ex-girlfriend - Weymouth College student Stephanie Lam.

Mrs Maynard said that she was worried that Dominic could upset his younger brother Toby, so she told them both to leave.

The inquest was told that Dominic and Miss Lam then left in his Renault Clio and drove to Weymouth. Miss Lam told Mr Payne that Dominic asked her to take his car back to his parents 'so they would have something to remember me by' before he dropped her at home.

She said: "It was just so out of the blue. He had never mentioned anything as dark as that before. I was a bit puzzled but we just laughed it off."

DCI Jeremy Noyce said Dominic travelled to Bournemouth and was last seen on CCTV stepping on to the beach shortly before midnight.

Mrs Maynard woke up to find he had missed his midnight curfew but had left a message on her answerphone.

She said: "He said I expect you don't want to hear from me' and I was really shocked.

"He said thank you for being a good mum and to thank Rachel and Toby for being a good brother and sister and then he went on to thank other friends."

His mother said that the family moved to Bridport in 2002 when Dominic joined Sir John Colfox School and it was there that he had such a bad time' after being bullied by two boys.

She said: "I did talk to him about moving to another school but it would mean taking his first year of GCSEs again so he said he would stay and put up with it."

Throughout this period his older sister Rachel dropped him off at school and he spent breaks with his form tutor and then Rachel would pick him up after school.

Mrs Maynard said: "After the first initial incident he stayed at home for three weeks because it wasn't safe for him to go to school."

After leaving school Dominic started an art course at Weymouth College where he made new friends and gained confidence until one of the bullies joined the college and started the verbal bullying again.

Mrs Maynard said: "He began to suffer sleepless nights. I think that had a bigger effect than anyone realised."

Mrs Maynard told how just three weeks before her son's disappearance she was upset by a picture that Dominic had drawn and put up in his room of a hanging man with the words one day you will find me swinging lifeless from this tree.' The court heard how Dominic liked the emotionally-charged punk music known as emo and these depressive lyrics were used on another painting displayed in his room.

Mrs Maynard added: "Emo music is all to do with death."

Mr Payne said: "I have to take the view that he did put himself into the water, that he was feeling unhappy at that time and he was saying goodbye to his family.

"It is always a regrettable verdict, particularly when it is such a young life with so much ahead."