Keyboards light up, but black screen.

[Bilaal]

So my friend gave me his 9700 because he was telling me how is phone would randomly turn off and stay on the black screen n red light, we both assumed it would be OS related, but it appears to be more than that.

After wiping the phone and installing the latest OS, the screen does not show. The keyboard and trackpad illuminate fine and that's it.

If I press the buttons, it does seem to respond as the illuminated lights become brighter as it would come out of stand by or something but zilch

Could the screen be permenantly damaged? Funny thing is, before I wiped the phone, the BB start up screen appeard for like 2 sec, before switching off and showing the red light again.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Rootbrian]

Did it have water damage before it was given to you?
I suggest bringing it to a repair shop to have the screen replaced and to also see if it works fine once it's been replaced.