Girl sues private school after suicide attempt

Claim alleged cyber and physical bullying not dealt with

A teenager is suing a top private school for £50,000 over allegations that she was bullied to the brink of suicide.

The former pupil claims Strathallan School failed to adequately protect her from physical and cyber-bullying while she was boarding at the school.

The 18-year-old said the bullying became so bad that it led to her repeatedly self-harming and eventually making a failed suicide bid.

She alleges a lack of action by the school management caused her “anxiety and depression”.

The school alleges that the girl’s mental health deteriorated when her wealthy parents went abroad and signed her care over to another family member.

The school have told the court the girl felt unduly pressured by her father to achieve good grades.

And the school claimed cyber-bullying on a WhatsApp group happened after the girl posted sexually explicit pictures of herself to a boy and they were seen by other pupils.

The girl, whose parents live in a £1.4 million home in England, left the £33,000-a-year school and moved to another fee-paying school in England.

Her legal action states: “She suffers reparation for anxiety and loss suffered through the defender’s complicity in the bullying and harassment of her while she was attending Strathallan School.

“She was continually emotionally derided, insulted and victimised – which led directly to her self-harming. The defenders did nothing to prevent persistent verbal and cyber attacks on her.

“The disciplinary sanctions which they imposed on the perpetrators were risible. There was a tolerance of bullying culture within the school.

“One of her tormenters urinated in her sink and used her [the pursuer’s] towel to clean it up, then brazenly boasted about their squalid and outrageous behaviour.”

The school’s legal team admit the incident took place but claim it was dealt with by an immediate suspension of the responsible pupil.

They said the first incident of selfharm came after the girl’s parents moved to mainland Europe, appointed an aunt as her guardian, and left a c/o address as their contact number.

The school’s lawyer told the court: “She advised her house parent that her father was disappointed with her grades and felt the pressure put on her by her father was unreasonable.

“She had sent a sexually explicit image of herself to a boy which had been seen by other pupils. She was not disciplined despite the content of the image.”

They added that the girl expressly asked for her parents not to be told about her self-harming and they said none of the actions she had taken at school amount to a suicide attempt.

The girl’s action states: “She is entitled to aggravated damages because the school’s failure to notify her parents of her attempted suicide and continuing self-harming was repugnant to human decency.”

The case will be heard in court at a later date.

Strathallan School, where the alleged bullying took place.