A 19-year-old much-loved student who jumped to his death into the River Mersey casually told friends "I might kill myself" just before the tragedy.
Richard Bliss had texted his mum Yvonne, saying "I love you" in the l ead-up to him drowning in the water, close to the Museum of Liverpool at the Pier Head.
She replied "I love you too" in the middle of the night, but it is thought the teenager, who was on a business course at the University of Liverpool, probably died before reading it.
Today, Richard's inquest heard how the Marks and Spencer's shop assistant was out enjoying a night out with friends when his mood turned gloomy.
At around 4.30am, on August 4, the Liverpool University student could not be found by his pals, and he was not answering repeated calls to his mobile phone.
They managed to track him down using a smartphone app, alerting Merseyside Police.
A search was undertaken and Richard was located in the water after he was spotted by a passer-by.
He was pulled out of the water, and attempts to carry out CPR commenced before he was rushed to the Royal Liverpool Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Police found there were no suspicious circumstances.
Richard, who was living in Bootle, had a relatively low level of alcohol in his body, just above the normal drink drive limit, which would have led to "mild drunkenness," the inquest heard.
There was no sign of any recreational drugs, coroner's officer Elise Fahey told the hearing in Kirkdale.
Anita Bhardwaj, area coroner for Liverpool and Wirral, said Richard's parents - Keith and Yvonne - had chosen not to attend because of their ongoing "upset and pain."
Ms Fahey said Richard was on a night out in Liverpool city centre with friends, and was in "good spirits, and appeared to be drinking a lot."
When he had made his brief mention of "killing himself", it was disregarded by his pals as a "throwaway comment."
He had never made a similar reference before.
The court heard Richard had no relevant medical history, no sign of any past self-harm or "natural disease".
Coroner Bhardwaj recorded a narrative verdict, ruling he "drowned in the River Mersey, and it is unclear how he came to be in the Mersey".
Richard, a former pupil at South Sefton College and Hillside High School, was described by his grieving dad as "generous, kind and thoughtful."
Keith had dropped his son off at his job in Aintree Retail Park and remembered him making plans for the coming week and future.
The 52-year-old previously told the ECHO: "He was chatting about football and was a big Liverpool football fan and had been since he was young.
"I am an Evertonian so I didn't influence his choice in team, but it didn't bother me - he had a passion for Liverpool and would always watch the match.
"He was saying that he was going to try and change his shift so he could watch the match.
"He was talking about his third year of university as well.
"He was only going into his second year, but he was telling me that in third year you got to go on placement and he was going to ask M&S about it.
"He was making plans, speaking about the future.
"And we just had a normal conversation, I had no idea that it would be our last."
His proud dad said he was certain his son was "going to do great things in the world."
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