A teenager's desperate struggle to rescue his drowning friend has been praised by a coroner.

An inquest yesterday heard how 14-year-old Mark Faulkner, of Mortimer Road, Rose Hill, Oxford, made two separate attempts to help struggling Glen McCulloch, 16, to safety.

But tragically Glen's frantic efforts to save himself meant he was pulling his friend under the water as well, and Mark was eventually forced to free himself and struggle to the bank.

The pair, who were neighbours and close friends, had gone out to the River Thames near the A423 bypass, near Iffley, on August 10 to walk Glen's dog.

The inquest heard that it had been a hot day and the pair had decided to take a dip in the river.

But the day turned to tragedy when Glen, also of Mortimer Road, got into difficulties and had to be pulled unconscious from the river by an off-duty lock-keeper and a friend.

He died the following day in hospital.

Yesterday, Mark told Oxford Coroner's Court they had swum across the river but Glen had decided to take a break at the bank before heading back across.

As Mark made the return swim, he heard his friend struggling behind him. To start with Mark assumed Glen's splashing was just "playing around" but then he became concerned.

He told the court: "He looked really serious and he was calling for help. I started to swim towards him. He was on top of the water but going down."

The youngster made two ill-fated attempts to rescue his friend but revealed that other people had not been prepared to help.

He said: "A cyclist went down there at that time but he just looked at me."

Later a man and a woman had appeared on the riverbank but had 'just walked off', he said.

Help finally came from another member of the public who sent his son to alert the lock-keeper.

Lane Redgewell, the resident lock-keeper, had just handed over his job to a stand-in for several days and was preparing for a short boating holiday with friends on the river. As he was saying goodbye to the relief lock-keeper, he heard about the accident and immediately sailed his boat to the scene.

He and a friend managed to pull Glen out of the water and made attempts to resuscitate the teenager.

But asked by Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner if he had noticed any signs of life, Mr Redgewell replied: "None whatsoever."

Recording a verdict of accident death, Mr Gardiner told Mark: "I would like to express my admiration for you. You clearly did all you could for your friend. Meanwhile, Glen McCulloch's father has told of his anguish that a couple passed by as his son was battling for life but did not stop to help.

Glen's friend, Mark, described how a man and a woman had 'just walked off' as he was fighting to save his pal.

Ian McCulloch, 51, Glen's father, said; "It must have been obvious someone was struggling. I would have stopped.

"All they had do was stand at the bank and watch to find out if the situation was serious. With Mark's help they could have pulled him out.

"We cannot believe it."

Glen's aunt, Ann Foster, of Kidlington, added the the family were also angry that a life-belt had appeared near the scene of the tragedy several days after Glen's death.

She said: "Mark is insistent that if a life-belt was there, he could have thrown it. Glen's parents are very distressed about it. Why did he have to die before they realised it was not there?

"We cannot find out who put it there."

She said Glen's parents had thanked Mark for everything he had done.

She said: "They're grateful and they've said thank-you and that he mustn't feel guilty. He did the best he could. He could not have done any more."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.