Online ‘suicide guides’ probed over teen’s death
THE death of a teenager who took her own life after looking at online ‘suicide guides’ is to be probed by a sheriff.
Sophie Parkinson, 13, was found dead at her family home in Liff, near Dundee, in March 2014.
She had been looking at harmful content on the internet and chatting to older men online.
The schoolgirl had been referred to specialists at the age of eight after showing signs of behavioural problems and low self-esteem. She had attempted suicide twice before.
Last year, her mother Ruth Moss blamed NHS Tayside’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services for her daughter’s death, insisting that she would still be alive with proper medical care.
Mrs Moss, a nurse, who is suing NHS Tayside, says the health board dismissed two previous suicide attempts as ‘childish cries for help’.
An independent inquiry into mental health provision within NHS Tayside was commissioned last year.
A fatal accident inquiry is to be held at Dundee Sheriff Court into the circumstances surrounding the death following a ruling by the Lord Advocate that the case gave rise to ‘serious public concern’. A preliminary hearing will take place next month.
Speaking earlier, Mrs Moss, said: ‘I hold NHS Tayside responsible for Sophie’s death. It’s made me angry, upset, hurt – a whole barrage of other feelings.’
She added: ‘She tried to kill herself on two previous occasions and neither of those were really taken seriously.’
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