Joshua Maher, 19, who was suspected of stealing a few pounds from his grandparents drove hundreds of miles from his home in Bristol, parked in a lay by and shot himself, it has been reported.

The 19-year-old shot himself using a shotgun he had taken from the farm he shared with his grandparents.

The teenager’s grandmother was worried that money had disappeared on several occasions, so she questioned Joshua about it.

Detective Constable John Farrow said: “There had been a minor family issue about Joshua possibly taking money from a pot kept at the farmhouse.”

The boy’s mother, Paula, said her parents viewed Joshua like a son, and she cannot believe he took his own life over a few pounds.

The body of Joshua Maher was discovered in a van by two men who had stopped on a lay by on the A390 in Cornwall in February.

Barrie van den berg, assistant coroner, recorded a suicide verdict.