Better treatment could have saved girl, 13, who visited suicide websites
A 13-YEAR-old girl who killed herself after looking at online ‘suicide guides’ might still be alive if she had received better treatment, according to a Crown report.
Private school pupil Sophie Parkinson died at her family’s home in the village of Liff, Angus, in March 2014.
But a report has revealed her death may have been avoided if ‘reasonable precautions’ had been taken by clinicians during her treatment in the community.
The second year pupil at £13,000-a-year High School of Dundee first sought help from mental health services when she was seven.
Sophie is reported to have been chatting to adults online and looking at content relating to self-harm and suicide before her death. A
Fatal Accident Inquiry is taking place after the Lord Advocate, Scotland’s most senior law officer, ruled that Sophie’s death led to ‘serious public concern’.
It will focus on whether the care she received was good enough. A preliminary hearing at Dundee Sheriff Court yesterday was told her family’s lawyers may want ‘four clinicians’ involved in her treatment to give evidence.
Advocate David Adams, for Sophie’s mother Ruth Moss, said: ‘It appears that the Crown’s experts make certain matters of opinion that in their [the clinicians’] treatment of the deceased, there were precautions that could have been taken.’
Reports by an expert psychologist and psychiatrist who reviewed the evidence have not yet been made public. But the court heard they were ‘detailed and thorough’ and had involved input from both Mrs Moss and NHS Tayside.
A sheriff will consider whether any defects in any system of work resulted in her death, and whether any precautions could have been taken to prevent her suicide.
Mr Adams said he would not be ready to proceed with the inquiry in January as hoped. This is because the four clinicians have not yet had any statements taken from them.
Sheriff Lorna Drummond, QC, who will preside over the probe, said she was determined ‘to get a firm grip’ of the inquiry. She ordered a further preliminary hearing for January 16, when it is hoped that a start date can be set for the inquiry itself.
Outside court, Mrs Moss said: ‘It’s been postponed for the right reasons. This absolutely needs to be done right.’
Mrs Moss previously said Sophie’s earlier suicide bids had been dismissed as ‘childish cries for help’.
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit www. samaritans.org.
‘Serious public concern’