A man bled to death after getting his arm trapped in the hatch of a charity clothing bin where his family believe he was trying to get inside to sleep.

Brendan McBride, 19, was found hanging by his arm in a yard used to store bins belonging to Save The Mother’s Trust at Beckside Works, Great Horton.

An inquest which opened yesterday into his death heard how the grim discovery was made by a man on his way to work at about 9.30am on Friday, May 23.

It is believed Mr McBride had been standing on a plastic container to reach into the bin when he slipped, trapping his arm in the metal hatch leaving him suspended.

Assistant Bradford Coroner Dr Dominic Bell was told the hatch had caused a significant arm injury resulting in significant blood loss.

Mr McBride was declared dead at the scene.

His grief-stricken mother Paula Denison, 44, of Harlow Road, Lidget Green, yesterday said she was struggling to accept her son would never walk through her door again.

Miss Denison, who has four other children, said the police broke the news to her after finding her address in his pocket.

She believes her son, who had been staying at various addresses, might have been trying to find shelter for the night.

“I thought I heard knocking at the back door at about midnight, a neighbour said they heard something too but I didn’t answer the door. I didn’t think it was anyone. Now I’m worried it could have been him, I’ll have to live with that guilt,” Miss Denison said.

“I’ve been on the couch downstairs since, I’m fighting sleep – I think I need to be awake if he comes to the door but of course he won’t. I just don't want it to be true.”

She added: “He had a home here, he could have a bed, a meal, a bath when he wanted. He’d spend a couple of nights here a week maybe, then at his dad’s or at friends.

“I don’t know why he would have been trying to get into the bin that night, he could have been looking for somewhere to sleep. I really don't know and maybe I never will.”

The inquest heard how Mr McBride had been drinking the night before he was found and had told his mother he was going to visit friends. She told him to be back by 9.30pm but he never returned.

Miss Denison said her son had started drinking too much after losing a job he loved at a car breakers’ yard.

She said: “We all told him to lay off the drink – we were worried about him. When he was working he loved being busy, he’d only ever have a can or two but then when the job went it all changed, everything started going down and he drank too much.

“You expect to see your children grow and live their lives, you think you’ll go first – we are heartbroken.

“All we wanted for him was to enjoy his life, get another job and be happy.

“He had such a cheeky smile, everyone used to comment on it and they remember his little beard.

“He just wanted a laugh with his mates – he was a young lad well-known by lots of people who have come to pay their respects and that has brought us some comfort.

“He was always loving and he knew he was loved. Family was important to him – he had a close bond with his dad and he’d buy me and his little sister gifts out of the blue to show how much he cared, it was just his way.

“We will miss him a lot I don’t think I’ll be able to keep living here without him, there’s too many painful reminders.

“I don’t want people to spread rumours about what happened to him – it was a freak accident that no-one could have predicted and in the end no-one could have stopped.”

Sympathies have come from Save The Mother’s Trust, whose project manager Mohammad Shahid said the charity would now be putting up a bigger fence made from metal to keep people out of the yard where it stores its bins, including some waiting to be repaired.

“We have been saying prayers for the young man and his family” he said.