A Hampshire teenager died of a severe lack of insulin in his body after suffering from a stomach bug and missing his injections for diabetes, an inquest heard.

Blake Cook, from Popley, was rushed to Basingstoke hospital by ambulance on February 25, 2015 but paramedics and doctors were unable to save the 15-year-old and he died at 8.03pm that day.

The Everest Community Academy pupil had been off with vomiting and diarrhoea before he died, the inquest at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court heard.

His mother, Davina Cook, told the inquest that she agreed to allow her son to take charge of his injections for Type 1 diabetes, which he was diagnosed with aged two.

She added: "There was a decision on his birthday that I wasn't to treat him like a baby anymore."

Mrs Cook told the inquest that Blake had problems injecting at school and was being bullied, adding: "He felt very lonely."

She said her son tried to be brave about the teasing, but added: "It must have hurt him and his feelings."

Mrs Cook and her daughter had also been suffering with the same sickness bug, and the family had all stayed at home in the days leading up to Blake's death, she told the inquest.

She added: "I did ask Blake if he was okay, he seemed okay."

Pathologist Doctor Basil Purdue told the inquest that Blake had 28mg of glucose per litre of blood, which was described by a diabetes expert as the highest he had ever seen.

Blake was also found to have a high reading of acetone, which indicated that he had severe ketoacidosis - caused by a lack of insulin.

He had not taken an insulin reading at home for nearly a week, with the last reading on February 19 at 5.11pm showing a high reading of 19.8mg of insulin per litre of blood.

 Dr Purdue said: "I don't know whether he didn't inject because there was none in the house or whether he was too ill or he had had enough of injecting."

He added: "Diabetes is tough, but having it as a teenager is very difficult. Teenagers get fed up with it and fed up of being teased by colleagues at school."

Mrs Cook said: "I'm very shocked to find out that he hadn't done his readings all week."

Dr Purdue told the inquest that Blake would have survived had he gone to hospital on Monday, adding: "Tuesday, I'm less sure about. By Wednesday his blood glucose levels were very high and would have caused his heart to stop."

He added: "It's not surprising that even the most determined of efforts to save him did not succeed."

Andrew Bradley, North East Hampshire Coroner, told Mrs Cook: "As a young child it's easy for a mum to control, it's part of the discipline. But when 'because I say so' is no longer enough and they start foot stamping and throwing things the argument becomes more difficult."

He urged other diabetics to seek help within 12 hours if suffering from vomiting or diarrhoea, adding: "It's a significant factor and something that ought to be highlighted particularly with diabetic children.

"Blake is 15 but he's a child and we need to highlight with diabetics that if they have vomiting they need to seek help sooner rather than later, because by the time you are looking for help for Blake he's beyond redemption and there's nothing you or anyone else can do about it, despite the best efforts."

Mr Bradley recorded a narrative verdict and said Blake died as a result of ketoacidosis caused by diabetes.

Paying tribute to her son, Mrs Cook said: "He loved cuddles with his mum."