Hannah Smith, Ask.fm Suicide Teen, Was Not Cyberbullied, Inquest Hears

'No Evidence' Ask.fm Suicide Teen Was Cyberbullied, Inquest Hears
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A police investigation into the death of a 14-year-old found hanged in her bedroom uncovered no evidence that she was the victim of internet bullying, an inquest has been told.

Asked by Leicester and South Leicestershire coroner Catherine Mason if there was "any evidence" that Hannah Smith was subjected to cyber-bullying, Detective Sergeant Wayne Simmons said: "No, there isn't."

Det Sgt Simmons, of Leicestershire Police, added that on the "balance of probabilities" the "vile" messages about Hannah on the social media site Ask.fm were posted by the teenager herself in the run-up to her death on August 2 last year.

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Hannah Smith was a victim of cyberbullies on Ask.fm

The inquest heard that Hannah, of Lutterworth, in Leicestershire, who was found dead at home in her bedroom by her older sister on August 2 2013, had been attacked at a party in the months leading up to her death.

At the hearing at Leicester Town Hall, her father David Smith said his daughter had been bullied for some time and that he believed her eczema had been the reason she was targeted, adding that she would try to avoid getting changed in front of classmates.

Describing his daughter as "self-confident", he said that after attending a party in March 2013, she was attacked by a former friend and afterwards "her behaviour seemed to change" from that of a "bubbly, happy" person to a more introverted young girl.

"She went to a party and had her head smashed against a wall, twice," Smith told the coroner.

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 but he put this down to her being what he jokingly referred to as "a lazy teenager".

Smith said he had also 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 believed was bullying her sister at school and said her younger sibling had been targeted throughout years seven, eight and nine.

She added that whenever there was trouble, Hannah or her friends would alert her and she would "deal with it".

Describing the night of her sister's death, Miss Smith, 17, said she had been out late with friends and on arriving home had invited them all in.

They then decided to go and wake Hannah as a prank.

"My friend opened her bedroom door and said the little light was on but he couldn't see her," said Miss Smith.

"We thought 'she's got to be around, and she'll probably jump out around the door and scare us'.

"Then I turned around and saw her."

Earlier the inquest had heard that a pathologist's report had given the cause of death as hanging.

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