A TEENAGER was found hanging in the bedroom of her supported living accommodation on Christmas Eve, an inquest has heard.

Tiegan O’Rourke was found by her support worker just moments after she had last seen her sitting on her bed at Devlin House in Clayton-le-Moors.

Linda Wade said that the 17-year-old had spent the day doing her laundry and getting herself ready for Christmas. It was also heard how she was ‘excited’ to go home and she had spoken about the presents she had brought for her family, in particular her young niece.

But just a few moments after she was last seen, the former Our Lady’s and St John’s Secondary School, Blackburn, student was found hanging by a ligature in her bedroom.

Ms Wade said: “I called an ambulance. I was unable to open the door of Tiegan’s room as the weight of something behind the door was too heavy.”

Paramedics were able to gain access to the bedroom and restore Tiegan’s heartbeat but the teenager died in Royal Blackburn Hospital two days later on December 26.

However it was heard that in the moments prior to her death, Tiegan had contacted the father of a friend, stating she ‘didn’t want to be here anymore’. He then contacted Tiegan’s mother who said she was unable to get through to her daughter’s mobile phone.

The inquest heard there may have been ‘missed opportunities’ from social services with regards to looking after her mental health.

Tiegan, who has suffered a number of traumatic experiences in her life, was put into care  and began self-harming in 2015.

In a statement by Tiegan’s mum Emma Catley, the inquest was told how Tiegan became quiet, not wanting to express herself anymore. She noticed that her daughter had started to self-harm, in the form of superficial cutting. But things started to get progressively worse with Tiegan regularly overdosing, threatening to jump from buildings, and a putting a razor blade in her mouth.

She was also severely affected by the death of her aunt, to whom she was very close, and would often say, “I just want to be with aunt Lynnsey”.

Ms Catley said: “She was demonstrating dangerous, impulsive behaviour. But she kept her thoughts to herself and she wouldn’t tell me. I think she just didn’t want to upset me. But I was going to bed at night constantly worried about her and what she was doing. I had concerns for her safety.”

Ms Catley said she noticed a significant improvement in her daughter after she was moved to Cherry Tree children’s home in July of 2016.

She said: “She was far more stable, she even put on a Macmillan coffee morning and would help out with the younger children.”

But her condition began to deteriorate again following the death of a friend who lived in the home. She was then moved again to Eastmount children’s home, Blackburn, where she spent a year before she went to live in Devlin House in October 2017. Tiegan was receiving support and guidance from a number of healthcare workers, school nurses and social workers throughout her teenage years, but it was heard how a ‘lack of stability’ in her life could have been to her detriment.

Reference was also made to the fact that Tiegan was let down on occasions, when appointments with her social workers were cancelled or rearranged at the last minute.

Social worker Samantha Moore said Tiegan was struggling with the transition from children’s social services to adult care, adding: “I think I was just another face in a long series of social workers. She was reluctant to speak to me about certain things.”

Concluding, coroner James Newman said: “I have heard evidence of her behaviour starting with minor self-harming which progressed rapidly to a scary position.

“Through care she was moved between service and providers and there was a difficulty in the continuity of care provided. For someone like Tiegan I can understand how difficult it was to cope with.

“She signposted what she was doing, by messaging the father of her friend, in the knowledge that he would contact her mother. On this occasion however that signposting was a little late or that the actions of applying the ligature meant she couldn’t change her mind.

“Tiegan was a girl who has been described as funny, intelligent and she had her whole life in front of her. But she had been though a number of difficulties in her young life.”

Recording a narrative verdict, the coroner said Tiegan died as a result of brain injuries as a result of hanging. He could not determine the level of intent behind her actions.

Friends and family set up a GoFundMe page following Tiegan’s death to raise mental health awareness. Visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/yvonne-walker