A popular teenager and talented sportsman showed no signs anything was wrong before he killed himself, an inquest heard.

Family and friends of Michael Langton, 18, told the inquest he seemed happy and normal before he died when he was hit by a train.

The hearing at Crewe Municipal Buildings heard he was a quiet person but with a witty sense of humour, and that he was coming out of his shell and ‘blossoming’ in the months before he died.

His work as an apprentice painter and decorator was going well and he continued to be successful at sports, which he had shown a talent for since he was a child.

The inquest heard Michael, of Mallard Crescent in Poynton, was saving up to buy a car and take his driving test.

The night before he died he enjoyed a family celebration for his grandad’s birthday. He was said to show no signs of depression.

But the inquest heard that Michael admitted suffering from depression in online conversations with a Candadian girl he was in contact with over.

The inquest heard that in one conversation with the girl he said: “I’m not much longer for this world.”

On the morning of Monday, April 28 Michael’s stepdad Gary Roebuck drove him to Poynton Station to go to Stockport College, where he was studying painting and decorating.

Mr Roebuck said: “We were talking about the Arsenal and Manchester United game and were having a normal conversation, he seemed fine.

“He stayed in the car for a while and I was picking up a colleague who was getting off a train and I told Michael to go and have some banter with him about the football.

“I saw him cross over the bridge to get a ticket and that was the last I saw of him.”

Coroner Geoff Roberts said Michael died from multiple injuries.

He said: “We have heard he was a quiet young man with a good sense of humour who did well at school and was a successful sportsman.

“He became an apprentice decorator and was doing extremely well.”

He concluded that Michael killed himself.

Michael went to Lostock Hall Primary and Poynton High School.

Friends raised money after his death for a memorial bench at Deva Fields in Poynton, where Michael played sports.

His friend Joshua Ward, of Chester Road, Poynton, told the inquest: “He was a funny person and everyone liked him. a

“He kept things to himself but didn’t seem depressed.”

In a statement read to the inquest, mum Victoria Roebuck said Michael had a happy and healthy childhood, achieved well at school and excelled at sports. She said there was an incident in September 2013 where he became upset after getting drunk at a house party but there were no outward signs he was depressed.

She said: “During his second year at college he developed a great personality, he blossomed.

“In the days before his death he was completely normal and when my husband took him to the station everything was fine.”

His dad Keith Langton, of Hazel Grove, told the inquest his son was beginning to come out himself and that his death was ‘a complete shock’.

He said after the hearing: “Michael was a happy go lucky lad, it’s a stratospheric loss that he’s gone. “We are all absolutely devastated. Michael was very sport-minded and could turn his hand to anything.

“I’m massively proud of him.”