A 30-year-old student was found dead in November 1994 after breaking out of a mental health unit near Bangor, an inquest has heard.

Anthony Whittle had paranoid schizophrenia and was taken to hospital and admitted to the Hergest psychiatric unit at Ysbyty Gwynedd.

Speaking at the time, his family described hearing a "crash and bang" as he escaped through the window of an interview room and fled down a sloping roof.

A fresh inquest into the events around his death began on Tuesday, after the high court ruled the original hearing in 1995 was inadequate.

Anthony's family "fought" for a new hearing for many years, but his parents died before it was ordered.

Anthony was in the first year of a course studying forestry at Bangor University when, on 24 November 1994, he called his parents in Burnley, Lancashire, saying he wanted to go home.

Police arranged for him to be taken to the Hergest unit, where his father and brother went to meet him.

On Tuesday, Anthony's brother Christopher told the inquest hearing in Caernarfon that he "hugged us and said he loved us, but said he'd changed".

"We went back to reception, but then we heard a crash and a bang of the window in the room where he was.

"The doctor came back and said Anthony had got out through the window and down a sloping roof."

Anthony was found dead beside the A55 near Llandygai the following morning.

Christopher said his family had "fought for a new inquest, and for justice for many years", after being unhappy with the original hearing.

Anthony's parents, who died in their 90s, had been devastated by his death.

Christopher said he had already been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from being present at the Hillsborough stadium disaster in 1989, and his brother's death had left him "traumatised".

The new inquest, held before a jury of 11 people, heard Anthony loved the outdoors and sea fishing, as well as being a talented rugby player and an amateur boxer.

The jury heard that shortly after Anthony arrived at the Hergest unit he had made an initial attempt to escape by running down a corridor and trying to get through a door and then a window.

Soon after, he was assessed by Dr Tom McMonagle, a trainee psychiatrist on duty at the time, who spoke to him at length before leaving the interview room to speak to his father and brother.

"My judgement at the time was that he was in a room with no exit apart from the door, and I was standing in the corridor," he told the hearing.

"The window was fitted with a device to restrict opening.

"Before I could return to the room, someone came from elsewhere to say they had seen a person disappearing over the roof in their socks.

"I was amazed he had managed to get out of the window without breaking it."

The inquest continues.