A schoolgirl who was left heartbroken when she was dumped by her boyfriend killed herself in the same spot where they went on their first date, an inquest heard.
Doctor’s daughter Helena Farrell, 15, was....
found hanged in a wood near her home with a Coldplay song playing repeatedly in the background.
The inquest at Kendal County Hall in Cumbria heard she was a ‘bright, intelligent, adventurous and fun- loving’ girl who was a gifted cellist and singer.
But the teenager had been forced to move schools after being bullied for having red hair and a ‘posh accent’.
The inquest heard that in autumn 2012 she started dating Billy Williams, a boy who was one year above her.
On their first date the pair went for a walk in the woods near her home in Kendal.
However Mr Williams ended the relationship shortly after the half-term holidays in October. After the break-up, she wrote on Facebook that he had ‘broken her heart’ and went on to take an overdose of paracetamol.
Her father, a former councillor, and her mother Maria, a GP, told the inquest they had desperately tried to help their daughter overcome her ‘dark thoughts’.
Mr Williams urged his ex-girlfriend to seek help from the school counsellor, accompanying her to appointments to offer his support.
But he went on to accept her invitation to a party, where he kissed another girl – prompting Helena to try and cut herself in the stomach with a knife. Giving evidence at the hearing, her former boyfriend, who is now 18, said: ‘She broke down. She was on the kitchen floor. I said to her, “why are you doing this?”.
‘She had tried to cut her stomach. It made me realise what I hadn’t noticed, that she still liked me.’
On the day of her death, in January last year, Mr Williams said she had sent him several texts.
‘She was where we first met,’ Mr Williams said, adding: ‘She said goodbye and I said please stop this.
‘She said I love you, which she had not said for a long time, and hung up. Then she texted me saying thank you for everything.’ Mr Williams said he ‘didn’t think she’d actually do anything’, but decided to alert his parents.
They got in touch with Helena’s parents, who in turn contacted the police. Mr Williams went out to search for her in the woodland half a mile away from her home.
He was joined by a policeman, who found Helena’s body hanging from a tree close to the grounds of the town’s Castle Green Hotel.
Giving evidence, PC Paul Kelly said he arrived at the scene to find the Coldplay song The Scientist playing on repeat, and a bundle of clothing along with 14 pieces of paper spelling out a statement. He said: ‘I wasn’t expecting to see what I found. It was surreal. There was a very strange layout of articles and music was playing on loop.’
The inquest heard that Helena had written letters saying goodbye to her family and friends in the weeks leading up to her death, but they were confiscated by a teacher.
Mrs Farrell yesterday paid tribute to her daughter, saying: ‘She was lovely, she was not a problem child. She had courage and I admired her.’ The inquest continues.
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