Hannah Smith Inquest: 'No Evidence She Was Trolled Online'

Hannah Smith Inquest: 'No Evidence She Was Trolled Online'
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Hannah Smith, the 14-year-old whose family believe was driven to suicide by bullies, probably posted 'vile' messages about herself on Ask.fm, an inquest has been told.

Detective Sergeant Wayne Simmons said there was no evidence that the teenager had been bullied online and said that on the 'balance of probabilities' the messages posted on the social media site in the run-up to her death were posted by the teenager herself.

Hannah, from Lutterworth, Leicestershire, was found dead at home on 2 August 2013.

Her father David Smith told an inquest in Leicester she had been bullied for some time and had been attacked at a party by a former friend.

Mr Smith had told the court his daughter's behaviour changed after the attack.

She changed from a 'bubbly, happy' person to a more introverted girl, he told the inquest at Leicester Town Hall.

Mr Smith told the inquest: "She went to a party and had her head smashed against a wall twice."

He said his daughter, who attended Lutterworth High School, had also taken to spending more time in bed and was late for class about once a week.

He said he put this down to her being 'a lazy teenager'. Mr Smith said Hannah's eczema may have been the reason she was targeted.

He said he had spoken to his daughter about self-harming, but she had never raised the subject of wanting to take her own life.

Hannah's older sister Joanne Smith said on one occasion she had 'ripped out the hair' of a person she had believed to be bullying her sister at school.

She said her younger sibling had been targeted throughout Years 7, 8 and 9 in secondary school.

A pathologist's report said her cause of death was hanging.

The inquest continues.

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