A schoolboy was found dead by his cousin after attempting to replicate a scene from Squid Games as a prank, an inquest heard.

Sebastian Cizman, 12, was found unresponsive at his family's home in Glasshoughton, West Yorkshire, during his younger brother's First Holy Communion celebrations.

He is believed to have been imitating a challenge that encourages youngsters to choke themselves until they pass out, and which has been linked to multiple child deaths around the world.

Health experts have warned it can cause permanent brain damage or death in under five minutes.

Sebastian was discovered with a sheet around his neck, lying motionless on the stairs of the family's terraced home on Friday evening.

Despite desperate efforts by paramedics to revive him, he was tragically pronounced dead at hospital.

Sebastian was a fan of a game based on Netflix dystopian thriller Squid Game and police found an image on his phone of a character from the show who was found hanging, the inquest heard.

He was described as a popular boy and a 'prankster' who enjoyed making his friends laugh.

Sebastian Cizman, 12, was found unresponsive at his family's home in Glasshoughton, West Yorkshire, during his younger brother's First Holy Communion celebrations 

Sebastian's heartbroken parents Marcin (right) and Kasia (left) spoke out to urge other families to wake up to the dangers lurking on their children's phones

The inquest also heard how Sebastian had previously pretended to be unconscious while play fighting.  

After speaking to his family, police believed he may have been attempting to recreate what he had seen on Squid Game but things had gone wrong.

Sebastian had shared an image of the hanged Squid Game character on a WhatsApp group on the day of his death.

A police investigation found no evidence he had searched for any dangerous challenges on TikTok, but he had viewed Squid Games and had also searched YouTube for a first-aid video about 'surviving choking alone.' 

The 'speculation' surrounding dangerous challenges had been put forward shortly after his death but police had found no evidence to support it, the inquest heard.

Sebastian's family had previously talked to him about the dangers of such online challenges and he said that he wouldn't try them.

Detective Sergeant Paul Bayliss, who investigated the circumstances around Sebastian's death, told the inquest hearing that boy was interested in Squid Game, and the character who took their own life whose image was found on his phone, coupled with his 'prankster nature', had led to the hypothesis to explain his death.

Dr Philip Dore, headteacher at St Wilfred's Catholic High School, said Sebastian had been a popular, happy and funny pupil who was good at making his class laugh.