My body, mind and soul are destroyed
Heartbreaking last text of girl, 14, who killed herself after sex attack
A SCHOOLGIRL killed herself after sending a text message saying her ‘body, mind and soul’ had been ‘destroyed’ by a sex attack.
Megan Hoyle, 14, had struggled to cope after being molested at the age of 12 by an older boy who had been locked up for the offence.
But when the 17-year- old attacker’s sentence was reduced on appeal, the youngster – described by her family as a ‘vibrant, beautiful and funny’ girl – felt let down, believing that he had ‘ got away with it’.
She first made a call to her close friend Christopher Cozens, who heard her sobbing and pushing pills out of a packet.
In a text message shortly afterwards, Megan asked him to apologise to her family and to tell her attacker that ‘he is the reason I am gone’.
She wrote: ‘I was strong once and internally beautiful but that girl died when I was 12 years old, when he destroyed my body, my mind and my soul.’
She also wrote: ‘If you have got this message then it’s too late and I’m sorry.’
Mr Cozens told an inquest that he tried to call her a number of times after that, to no avail, before trying to get hold of her family and phoning for an ambulance.
The teenager – known as ‘Pud’ to her family and friends – was later found by her mother Wendy Charnley, 46, collapsed on her living- room floor at home in Blackburn.
She had taken an overdose of her mother’s prescription medicine and died in hospital four days later.
Mrs Charnley told the inquest her daughter’s life changed for ever after she was sexually assaulted. Megan gave a statement to police that led to her attacker’s conviction at a youth court for indecent assault. However, the case went to appeal and he received a lesser term in custody. Neither his name nor his eventual sentence was revealed at the hearing.
Mrs Charnley said: ‘Before the incident Megan was happy, full of life and very bubbly. But after it she was initially very withdrawn and angry and struggling. She was getting professional help. After the reduced sentence, it made her feel let down. She had gone through all that and she felt he had just gotten away with it.’
She said that on February 20 she had told Megan to go to bed after she complained of feeling unwell. But after work that day she got a call from Megan’s father, who said he had received a text message and thought ‘ something was wrong’.
Mrs Charnley added: ‘I went home and I saw her in the living room, collapsed. I told my son to ring an ambulance and I was told that one was already on the way.’
Megan was taken to Blackburn General Hospital and then to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, where she died on February 24. Her family gave permission to donate her kidneys, lungs and liver, which saved the lives of four people.
Senior coroner Michael Singleton recorded a conclusion of suicide. For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a Samaritans branch. See www. samaritans. org for details.