A “HAPPY, kind, sensitive” 17-year-old fell to his death from Brighton Marina after hearing voices inside his head telling him to jump.

Reuben Downes tragically jumped from a flyover over Marina Way.

He died instantly from multiple injuries.

The inquest at Brighton and Hove coroner’s court heard Reuben had gone to the flyover over the entrance and exit to Brighton Marina to end his life on the morning of January 25.

Speaking at Brighton and Hove coroner’s court, Harry Richardson, a motorist who was passing by, said he stopped to help Reuben who was lying on the tarmac.

He said: “I went over to see if I could be of assistance.

“I tried to get the attention of the man on the floor in case he was drunk or sleeping rough.

“But then I immediately started CPR when I realised he wasn’t breathing, until the emergency services came.”

After a huge effort by emergency services, the former City College Brighton and Hove digital media student was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics at 07.58am.

Pathologist Dr Mark Howard said Reuben would have been instantly unconscious after he fell and he died moments later. Cannabis was found in his blood in small levels.

His death came only a day after a concerned member of the public rang police when they saw him sitting on a grassy area near the flyover on January 24.

He told police officers he was fine and was just meditating, but police officers took him back to his house in Clayton Road, Brighton, because of his age, they said.

Sussex Police were later cleared by the Independent Police Complaint Commission of any wrong doing in dealing with Reuben.

Later that evening he was assessed by a Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust doctor and care co-ordinator who judged him to be suffering from a psychotic episode, and prescribed him with medication.

Reuben later that day told his parents he was hearing three voices in his head telling him to commit suicide.

His father Matthew Downes, speaking in court, said: “After being brought back by the police he got us to sit down and told us he kept hearing voices telling him to jump.”

His mother Charlotte said: “He reassured us he wasn’t going to listen to the voices.”

The inquest heard he was referred to the mental health trust by the youth substance misuse service in 2016 after he started smoking cannabis which helped him with his anxiety.

But his mental health deteriorated after the death of his grandmother Christine, family said.

Senior coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley recorded his death as suicide with contributing factors of cannabis related-induced psychosis including auditory hallucination and mood.

Speaking outside the court Charlotte paid tribute to her son, saying: “He was a really happy, loving, kind and sensitive boy.

“He was happy until the last six months of his life when his grandmother died.

Now the family are planning a foundation in his name as his legacy, which will help troubled teenagers get involved with art and horticultural groups.