IT was supposed to be the hearing where John Simmons’ family finally found the answers to the painful questions about the schoolboy’s death.

How was it he came to drown that night? What had happened in the hours before his final moments?

Instead, after an exhaustive inquest in which various accounts of the night were rigorously scrutinised, many questions remain unanswered.

What emerged in court – under questioning from the Coroner Christopher Sumner and the Simmons family’s solicitor Rob Haygarth, was at times a confused picture, with the teenagers who were with John that night giving contradictory testimonies.

Each of the four, Stephen Francis, Dale Croft, Tyron Devine and Lewis Smith were called to give evidence at the inquest in North Sefton Magistrates’ Court, Southport.

The group say that after sharing three large bottles of strong cider and listening to music on a mobile phone on wasteland near the pond known as the Clegg, in Thatto Heath, the group of five – including John - headed out onto the water in darkness between 11pm and midnight.

They described it as their “midnight stroll” and that their actions were about “chilling out” and “having a laugh”.

Descriptions of their state varied between “merry” and “fairly drunk”.

The group used large polystyrene sheets, which they had picked up from a nearby building site, as makeshift rafts.

According to their accounts, Mr Francis and Mr Smith went out on one raft first, followed shortly afterwards by John, Mr Devine and Mr Croft on another.

Pieces of timber were used as paddles.

They say as the rafts neared an island at the pond’s centre they attempted to draw them together.

But as this happened the raft carrying the three boys is said to have tipped over, sending Croft, Devine and John into the water.

Accounts of why the raft went over differed, Francis suggested the three had stood up, but the others were less clear on what happened.

Croft aided by his best friend Francis clambered aboard the other raft.

Devine told the inquest he kicked off his shoes and swam, holding on to the raft with the three boys on.

The four were adamant John climbed back on to the second raft and he was on it as they headed to shore.

Francis says he went back to the fire, Devine – who swiftly headed home to get out of cold, wet clothes – says John was sitting on the raft when he left.

Croft and Smith added that they both waited at the shore for John.

Giving evidence first, Francis described hearing worried shouts from his friends who could no longer see John, before heading back to the waterside.

He added: “We started panicking. I could see the float John had been on but I could not see him.

“We were shouting his name, we were terrified.”

The boys, whose mobile phones were damaged by water, say they ran to nearby homes to raise the alarm.

Neighbours alerted emergency services and John’s body was recovered by police divers shortly after 2am.

Croft gave a police statement saying John’s death “was a stupid accident”.

He described being at the shore with Smith waiting for John when they heard “heavy splashing” and then silence.

He said: “Me and Lewis looked at each other and didn’t know what to do.”

Asked by Mr Haygarth whether John had been stopped from getting on their raft, Croft, responded: “No”

Lewis Smith, John’s closest friend of the group, was the last of the four to give his account.

Mr Smith, 16 at the time of the incident, suggested they had believed John “would drift in” to dry land despite not having a paddle.

But Smith said moments later he heard John repeatedly shouting for help and then splashing noises.

But Mr Haygarth questioned whether a full picture of what happened that night was being portrayed, saying to Smith: “You are one of only four people who know what happened on the Clegg that night.

“You know how upset John’s family are. They need to know what happened - this is your chance to give them closure?”

Smith maintained he was giving a truthful account of what he could remember happened on the night of John’s death.

After the family solicitor questioned Mr Smith over an alleged altercation John had with Francis and Croft in the weeks before the tragedy, the coroner asked: “Was there any bad blood between John and the other lads on the raft?”

Mr Smith replied: “No, we were all good mates,” adding that he had no recollection of any confrontation or threats, which the solicitor alleged, had been made by Francis to John weeks earlier.

Asked whether John may have been struck by wood the boys were using as paddles, Smith responded: “No.”

Questioned on whether Francis had been banging a paddle on the side of the raft to stop others who fell into the water getting on, Smith replied: “I don’t remember that.”

Mr Haygarth asked his recollections about a conversation with John’s mother, Paula, in the weeks that followed.

He replied: “I said (to her) don’t blame me It wasn’t my fault I didn’t do anything to John that night. I said it was tragic accident – people were calling us murderers and stuff like that.”

When questioned over a conversation at a party with a girl in the months after his friend’s death, Mr Smith said: “I said: ‘I don’t know why people think we’ve killed John. I think they’re out of order for trying to put the blame on someone’.”

Giving evidence earlier in the inquest, Dr Jonathan Medcalf, a forensic pathologist, said significant levels alcohol was found in John’s blood and low level traces of cannabis.

He found the cause of John’s death to be drowning.

Mr Sumner reported an open verdict.