Brody O’Brien

I am Emma Mather, area coroner, for the coroner area of Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen.

On 9 th October 2025 I commenced an investigation into the death of Brody O’Brien, aged 12. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on the 21 st January 2026. The conclusion of the inquest was: Narrative conclusion: On the 7 th October 2025 Brody O’BRIEN died at [REDACTED] on Market Street in Rochdale from hanging. [REDACTED] He did not intend to cause his death in doing so.

The brief circumstances are that on the 7 th October 2025 Brody [REDACTED] , from which he was later [REDACTED] found hanging. Brody had researched the beforehand and the court heard that that this [REDACTED] is regularly used by young people as a place to meet. The area of the [REDACTED] is not well secured and the [REDACTED] itself it is treacherous and the access point used by the emergency responders was dangerous. Despite resuscitation efforts, Brody sadly  was pronounced deceased.

During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern. In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken. In the  circumstances it is my statutory duty to report to you. The MATTERS OF CONCERN are as follows. (1) Brody was able to access the [REDACTED] as it remains unsecured and use the [REDACTED] to secure a ligature. (2) Emergency services found access to the [REDACTED] particularly with difficult and treacherous. They had to scale a wall and once inside, the ground was very uneven and dangerous posing a significant risk.

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you have the power to take such action.