According to new reports, former child star Terry Sue-Patt may have been dead for up to a month before his body was found.

Terry Sue-Patt played Benny Green in BBC’s children’s TV series Grange Hill.

His body was discovered by police who forced their way into the actor’s home on May 22 after a worried friend raised the alarm.

Terry Sue-Patt, 50, who had been battling a drink problem, was lying face down in bed in his housing association flat in Walthamstow, East London.

The actor’s death was not being treated as suspicious.

Tributes poured in on Twitter and Facebook from shocked Grange Hill co-stars to Terry Sue-Patt.

Todd Carty, who played Benny Green’s pal Tucker Jenkins, posted a photo of them together as children.

As friends remembered Terry Sue-Patt, details also began to emerge of the sad decline of the talented actor and artist.

Terry Sue-Patt had been battling personal demons since the death of his younger brother, Michael, in a car crash in Leyton in 1989, his father told the Sunday Mirror.

The actor was the front-seat passenger in a car being driven by Michael when it left the road and slammed into railings while apparently racing another car.

Alston Sue-Patt, 79 claimed Terry had blamed himself and turned to alcohol after the tragedy in November 1989.

He also bailed Terry out with £1,500 ($2,300) just weeks before his death so he could pay his rent.

Terry Sue-Patt left Grange Hill in 1982 and turned down the chance to appear with his friend Todd Carty in the spin-off series Tucker’s Luck.

He developed a career as a graffiti artist but continued acting, starring alongside Gary Oldman and Steve McFadden in the 1989 soccer hooligan film The Firm and appearing in Channel 4 comedy show Desmonds.

Terry Sue-Patt made his acting comeback this year playing a priest in Amar Akbar & Tony.