THE DISTRAUGHT father of a 12-year-old boy who was found hanging from his bunk bed was sent a sick racist letter within weeks of the horrific tragedy.

Father-of-three Henrick Yearwood, who originally comes from St Vincent, said his life has been "left in tatters" after the death of his young son but it had been made much worse for the family after the twisted letter was posted to them.

He told the Free Press: "Karl was very special and there is not a day or night goes by when I don't think about my boy.

"The whole thing has been a living nightmare but getting the letter was just a complete shock and so upsetting."

He added that the hate mail was sent just two weeks after Karl's older brother, John, found the youngster hanging by a shoelace from his bunk bed at the family home in Chiltern Avenue, High Wycombe, on the evening of October 25. Mr Yearwood, 43, said the letter described the family as 'animals'.

The full contents are too offensive for the Free press to print.

He added that the letter stated that Karl did not deserve to die but the rest of the family did.

Mr Yearwood said they had reported the incident to High Wycombe Police, who investigated the complaint.

A police spokesman said that Mr Yearwood did not want to pursue the matter but he claims the final decision was taken by officers.

The devastated father wept as the details of his young son's tragic death were recounted at High Wycombe Coroners Court on Tuesday.

Geraldine Trickett, coroner's officer, had to read out a statement made by Mr Yearwood about the events surrounding the death of his son as he was too distressed to speak. She said he described Karl as a "quiet boy" whose intelligence was beyond his age and that the two were very close.

She added that Karl's mother, Lynda, had multiple sclerosis and this had brought them closer together.

Mr Yearwood recalled his son's last moments laughing and joking at the family house before tragedy struck.

He said: "I totally believe that Karl was messing around and it went tragically wrong, I think he would have confided in us if he was upset."

After John Yearwood made the terrifying discovery of his brother's body, he had run to get his parents and cut Karl down using scissors before trying to give him mouth to mouth resuscitation.

The court heard how Karl died of asphyxia but Richard Hulett, coroner for Buckinghamshire, returned an 'open verdict' on the cause death.

He said: "I would have grave doubts in returning a verdict that he did this deliberately at 12 years old, I would find that unacceptable."