Autistic A-level student, 17, hanged himself after being sent a fake police email claiming he was being investigated for having indecent images and demanding £100

A 17-year-old with autism hanged himself after opening a scam email which appeared to be from police claiming he had downloaded indecent images and demanding £100.

Joseph Edwards, an A-level student from Windsor, Berkshire, likely didn't understand that the message was fake because of his learning difficulty, a coroner said.

Police say it will be almost impossible to trace the fraudsters behind the 'crude' email , but believe it may have originated from abroad.

The 17-year-old was found hanged at his home by his mother Jacqueline who has since launched a campaign to make children more aware of the dangers from internet scams.

Battling through tears, she told the hearing at Windsor Guildhall her son had been a 'happy boy.'

She added: 'He was generally happy and had just started new friendship circles and was enjoying himself,” she told the coroner.

'He didn’t seem to have any worries known to me. I don’t think he really understood. He did suffer from autism. I’m not sure he would have really understood the implications of what he was doing.

'He wouldn’t have done anything to upset myself or his sister, not deliberately.'

Ms Edwards told the hearing how, after finding his body, she had run screaming into the street.