A schoolgirl who had been affected by the suicide of her bullied classmate took her own life just weeks after his death, an inquest has heard.
Fionnuala Ryan, 14, who attended the £30,000-a-year Windermere School in the Lake District, was found dead at her home in December 2019.
Cockermouth Coroner s Court heard how one of her classmates, 14-year-old Pierre Dacosta Noble, had taken his own life just a few weeks earlier in November that year.
The court heard how Fionnuala, who was described as one of the school s shining stars , had been affected by Pierre s suicide, and went to see the school nurse in a tearful state following his death.
An independent school has been warned by a coroner “so that another fatality does not take place” after two teenagers took their own lives only weeks apart.Fionnuala Ryan, 14, a pupil at Windermere
INQUEST: Windermere School A CORONER has questioned Windermere School over why they did not respond to a student s cry for help just days before she hanged herself, an inquest heard. Fionnuala Ryan died in the Windermere area at the age of 14 on Friday, December 13, 2019. The safeguarding lead and deputy head of pastoral care at Windermere School Joanna Parry was quizzed by coroner Mr Andrew Tweddle over the school’s response after the student made a ligature which he deemed as a potential cry for help , Cockermouth Coroner s Court was told. This comes after Furzana Nazir, detective chief inspector at Cumbria Constabulary at the time of Fionnuala’s death, expressed her belief that quicker action should have been taken after the 14-year-old’s initial ligature.
Fionnuala Ryan died in the Windermere area on Friday, December 13, 2019. Witnesses giving evidence at the hearing painted a picture of a caring, popular and much-loved girl. “She was my only child,” mum Margaret Taylor said. “She was my treasure. “She wasn’t spoilt, but she knew if there was anything she wanted, anything she wanted me to do, I’d move heaven and earth to make it happen.” The opening of the inquest yesterday heard Fionnuala had made a ligature overnight at Windermere School at the beginning of the week in which she died. She confided in a friend who took the matter to staff.