AN SNP minister whose son died while on holiday with his friends has spoken for the first time about her heartbreak.

Mental health minister Clare Haughey said her "world fell apart" when police told her Charlie, 20, had been found dead.

She said: “I was never suicidal and never thought about killing myself but if I hadn’t woken up in the morning you know it wouldn’t have mattered."

The Rutherglen MSP had been enjoying a drink in Glasgow with her husband Paul in July last year when her youngster son, Michael, called to say the police were at the door.

Ms Haughey, a former mental health nurse, told Holyrood magazine: “They asked where we were and said they wanted to speak to me – now.

“I asked what was wrong. I think I asked that several times, before they said they wouldn’t tell me on the phone.

“When they said that, I immediately panicked and asked, ‘Is it my son?’ They said it was and that they were coming to meet me.

“Waiting on them was probably one of the longest 20 to 25 minutes of my life."

The 53-year-old added: “When the police arrived, they got us in the car and almost immediately told us that Charlie was dead and at that point my world fell apart.

“I could see Paul hunched over, just broken, in pieces. Michael was in the middle of the back seat of the police car and he just pulled his T-shirt up over his face and cried."

Charlie's friends had found him dead in bed during a holiday in Amsterdam. His death certificate says he died of cardiac arrest.

Ms Haughey said his body was brought home on the day of his 21st birthday.

She said she talks about Charlie every day.

She said: “He was just a genuinely warm, friendly boy and he was always the one to come and give you a hug.

“He knew he was loved.

“He wouldn’t want me to be upset. He would be distraught at the pain he’s left behind. 

"He would be mortified at being on the front page of the newspaper. 

"He would just be so upset that that happened, he didn’t like to be centre of attention."

Ms Haughey said she doesn't know how she has coped.

The mum-of-three said: “You take your comforts in small things; I know what happened, I know it wasn’t a deliberate act, I got to see him, I got to bring him home, I got to give him a funeral, I know where he is. I don’t have those unanswered questions that a lot of parents have when loved ones die abroad.

“You take small comforts from the things that you could do in a really awful, awful situation and you try and rebuild."

After the interview was published in Holyrood magazine, Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that it was "incredibly moving".

The First Minister added: "[Ms Haughey] has suffered a heartbreak unimaginable to most, and shown great strength in the face of it. 

"Her courage in sharing her family’s tragedy will, I hope, give comfort and strength to others dealing with similar devastation."