THE devastated mother of 11-year-old Scott Fanning who plunged to his death at a treacherous beauty spot has demanded the area be made safe.Sharon Fanning spoke out after an inquest heard her grief-stricken husband Alan died when a cry for help went tragically wrong. The 37-year-old died in his fume-filled car just weeks after he tried to kill himself at his son's grave and at Ashworth Valley, where the youngster plunged 60ft to his death.Msnchesteronline and the Manchester Evening News revealed yesterday that Mr Fanning's suicide attempts were a cry for help and his family claimed he would have expected to be found before he died of the fumes.An inquest at Oldham heard that Mr Fanning's brother-in-law Paul Radcliffe did not drive past Boundary Park as usual on his way to work on the day Mr Fanning parked his car and gassed himself. Mr Radcliffe said later: "He was expecting to be found, I'm sure of it. He was crying out for help. He knew that was the way I went to work, I just didn't go that way that day."Oldham Coroner Matthew Cox recorded an open verdict and said he was not convinced Mr Fanning had meant to kill himself. After the verdict Mrs Fanning, who described her husband as a devoted father to their other two sons, Dale and Robin, said Scott's death was the catalyst that had wrecked her family's life.She appealed for the area where her son plunged to his death to be made safe, just days after the dangerous ravine almost claimed the life of six-year-old Clarece Maher and her father John, from Heywood.She said: "Whoever owns this land should be ashamed of themselves. There are so many accidents there that something has to be done. I would hate any family to go through what we have had to go through. Alan's problems started after Scott's death because he could not cope with it."The court had heard Mr Fanning had started drinking earlier this year and his marriage deteriorated. After several suicide attempts he was treated at the Royal Oldham Hospital's Mental Health Unit. On several occasions he took an overdose of paracetamol tablets yet always told his family.In April this year, he was dragged from his Nissan Micra by off-duty police officer Steve Adams. But Mr Fanning died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The M.E.N. has revealed that 12 people have fallen in the valley, known as Dead Man's Drop, since Scott's death.
