MYSTERY still surrounds the death of a teenager who fell from a city centre footbridge earlier this year.

Rob Sedden, 19, fell onto the dual carriageway near to Campbell Road between the St Mark’s and Castle Street roundabouts after a night out with friends, an inquest last Thursday heard.

Nobody witnessed the incident which happened at around 3am on May 4 — the early hours of the Bank Holiday Monday.

The teenager, who worked at Woolley & Wallis auction house, had taken cocaine and alcohol during a heavy night out with friends. He returned home without his girlfriend Holly Lewis after the pair became separated.

When she returned to Mr Sedden’s house on Campbell Road the couple rowed before leaving the house again to find Miss Lewis’ phone.

Retracing their steps back towards the Greencroft, Mr Sedden walked ahead of Miss Lewis and she lost sight of him. He was found a short time later having fallen on his head.

A police investigation discovered he had searched on his phone ‘how big a fall can a person survive’, ‘would a ten metre/32 foot drop kill you’ and ‘would a three metre drop kill you’. But his family say these searches show that he was not looking to kill himself as they refer to survival rather than death.

He had no history of suicidal tendencies, although the family said he had suffered from depression and anxiety at times — but said this was not uncommon with teenage boys and they were not concerned for his welfare.

His mobile phone was found on the bridge, apparently placed there before he fell. He died of traumatic brain injuries at Southampton General Hospital on May 14. He suffered multiple fractures to the skull and spine.

A toxicology report threw doubt upon whether he took cocaine during the evening as tests showed up negative for the drug. But police found texts which showed he had handed over £115 to his friend Macaulay Morgan to buy drugs.

Detective Constable Sarah Chaplain said it was possible a dealer had cut the drug to make it weaker and the toxicology report may not have shown legal highs in the system. Friends say they witnessed him taking at least one line of cocaine and smoking cannabis.

Returning a narrative conclusion Assistant Coroner Dr Ian Singleton said the bridge railings were too high to stumble over but accepted there was nothing to suggest he had committed suicide. He said it remained unclear how he fell and what his intentions were.