Schoolgirl, 12, found hanged in her bedroom ‘after being bullied online’

A 12-YEAR-OLD schoolgirl killed herself after being bullied at school and posting a picture on social media of her foot with ‘RIP’ written on it.

Jessica Scatterson was found hanged in her bedroom after friends raised the alarm and police woke her father at their home in Warrington, Cheshire, at 3.45am on April 22, 2017.

An inquest into her death was told she had become ’emotionally overwhelmed’ and posted with ‘intensity’ on social media before her death.

Senior Coroner for Cheshire, Alan Moore, said: “The level and the intensity of her activity on social media platforms…cannot have failed to have influenced her intentions.”

One the night of her death, police visited her home after receiving calls from Jessica’s friends and woke her father Christopher by shouting towards an upstairs window.

Officers then heard a “loud scream” from inside the house.

Police and paramedics tried to resuscitate Jessica but she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at hospital.

HANDWRITTEN NOTES AND SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGES FOUND AFTER HER DEATH

The hearing was told handwritten notes and drawings which included references to death and suicide, as well as the name of an alleged bully were found after Jessica’s death.

Unpleasant messages between the 12-year-old and her friends in the days before were also found on her iPad.

Inspector Hannah Friend told the hearing she had been involved in ‘an incident’ at Penketh High School around a year before her death in which she’d come home with scratches to her face and a swollen eye.

Recording a verdict of suicide, the coroner said: “It is clear to me from the evidence that Jessica must have felt emotionally overwhelmed at the time she took her own life.

“The level and the intensity of her activity on social media platforms, in particularly in the build-up to her death, cannot have failed to have influenced her thinking, her state of mind and her intentions.”

Mr Moore read out and agreed with a statement by Wendy Walsh, a school emotional wellbeing co-ordinator, who spoke about social media during her evidence.

He said: “She said, I quote. ‘The pressures that young people are under are extraordinary. Young people don’t have the skills to cope with such overwhelming emotions’

“Those were her words and I echo that.”

• If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or visit Mind’s website.