A SCHOOLGIRL set herself on fire in her garden after she was dumped by her boyfriend, an inquest heard.
Devastated Rebecca Berry – known as Rebe – sent him a text saying: “I just want to say I love you for the last time, so bye.”
15-year-old Rebecca then sat in her den – a shrine to her kitten Honey – where there were tea light candles and set herself alight.
It was only when she failed to come in to watch one of her favourite TV shows I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! that her family became worried.
A coroner heard she had been in a relationship with the boy – who cannot be named – for seven months but he then ended it.
Rebe tried to win him back before she started to send him suicidal messages, but he didn’t take them seriously because she had made similar threats before.
Sergeant Joe Williams said: “Rebe’s boyfriend had ended their relationship at school on the Friday, prior to her death on the Monday.
“She was in denial about this and was in tears at school, having to be taken into a classroom by a member of staff.”
Her ex-boyfriend sobbed as he said: “After we broke up she messaged me loads saying she was thinking about hurting herself.
“I blocked her quite a few times from Facebook but then she would say she was going to do something stupid so I unblocked her and tried to talk to her.
“I didn’t seriously think she was going to do anything even though she had said all this stuff about killing herself before but hadn’t actually done anything.”
Her mum Gill Scott-Taylor found her lifeless body in their garden in Edmondsham, near Verwood, Dorset, on December 1 last year.
The coroner heard she had been dead for several hours.
Her mum said: “I had been taking Rebe cups of tea earlier in the evening and she seemed fine.”
When Rebe didn’t appear, her mum said her immediate thought was that she had gone to see her ex-boyfriend.
A light was then spotted in the shrine and she added: “Something stopped me from calling out to her.
“I expected to see her kneeling or sat down but she was laid on the floor.”
Paramedic Emily Schofield said: “She had suffered chest burns, had been deceased for some time when we arrived.”
A post mortem found the schoolgirl had died from inhaling toxic fumes.
Recording a narrative verdict, Dorset coroner Sheriff Payne said he believed Rebe’s actions were a cry for help rather than suicide.
He said: “She died as a result of self-immolation but there is doubt as to whether she intended her actions to result in her death.
“It is sad for anyone to die in this manner, let alone a young girl with so much ahead of her.
“I really don’t think at the end of the day that she had thought this through.”
If there’s something troubling you, get in touch with the Samaritans for free on 116 123
Devastated Rebecca Berry – known as Rebe – sent him a text saying: “I just want to say I love you for the last time, so bye.”
It was only when she failed to come in to watch one of her favourite TV shows I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! that her family became worried.
A coroner heard she had been in a relationship with the boy – who cannot be named – for seven months but he then ended it.
Rebe tried to win him back before she started to send him suicidal messages, but he didn’t take them seriously because she had made similar threats before.
Sergeant Joe Williams said: “Rebe’s boyfriend had ended their relationship at school on the Friday, prior to her death on the Monday.
“She was in denial about this and was in tears at school, having to be taken into a classroom by a member of staff.”
Her ex-boyfriend sobbed as he said: “After we broke up she messaged me loads saying she was thinking about hurting herself.
“I blocked her quite a few times from Facebook but then she would say she was going to do something stupid so I unblocked her and tried to talk to her.
“I didn’t seriously think she was going to do anything even though she had said all this stuff about killing herself before but hadn’t actually done anything.”
Her mum Gill Scott-Taylor found her lifeless body in their garden in Edmondsham, near Verwood, Dorset, on December 1 last year.
The coroner heard she had been dead for several hours.
Her mum said: “I had been taking Rebe cups of tea earlier in the evening and she seemed fine.”
When Rebe didn’t appear, her mum said her immediate thought was that she had gone to see her ex-boyfriend.
A light was then spotted in the shrine and she added: “Something stopped me from calling out to her.
“I expected to see her kneeling or sat down but she was laid on the floor.”
Paramedic Emily Schofield said: “She had suffered chest burns, had been deceased for some time when we arrived.”
A post mortem found the schoolgirl had died from inhaling toxic fumes.
Recording a narrative verdict, Dorset coroner Sheriff Payne said he believed Rebe’s actions were a cry for help rather than suicide.
He said: “She died as a result of self-immolation but there is doubt as to whether she intended her actions to result in her death.
“It is sad for anyone to die in this manner, let alone a young girl with so much ahead of her.
“I really don’t think at the end of the day that she had thought this through.”
If there’s something troubling you, get in touch with the Samaritans for free on 116 123
Post a Comment