A woman whose teenage daughter took her own life after she was bullied by other teenagers has issued an appeal to young people in a similar situation to confide in their friends and family members.
Leanne Wolfe (18), Carrigtwohill, Co Cork, took a fatal overdose last March, after allegedly enduring five years of bullying. Her inquest in Cobh, Co Cork, yesterday heard she kept diaries detailing how she had been attacked, threatened and beaten.
She also wrote that her car was vandalised by acquaintances.
The coroner's court heard that Leanne met three of her friends on the evening of March 22nd. The two males and one female told gardaí they went drinking with Leanne after purchasing vodka at an off-licence in Blackpool on Cork's north side.
The three told the court Leanne was in high spirits on the night before she died and was laughing and joking just hours before she took the overdose. They said Leanne had been drinking with them, but toxicology tests carried out following her death showed no trace of alcohol in her system.
The trio testified that Leanne went home to Carrigtwohill at about 2am on March 23rd and appeared to be in "good form".
One of the youths had a short conversation over the phone with Leanne when she got home and she told him she had taken two of her father's prescription tablets as a "relaxer".
However, he saw no reason to be alarmed and they made plans to meet the next day.
Leanne's parents, Anthony and Colette Wolfe, were on a short break in Lanzarote at the time of their daughter's death. She was being cared for in their absence by her older sister, Triona, who did not notice any marked changed in Leanne's demeanour in the days before her death.
Triona told the inquest that she awoke at midnight on the night of March 23rd and noticed that Leanne's bedroom light was off. She went in to the room to check on her sister and couldn't get a response from her. An ambulance was called and Leanne was pronounced dead.
It is understood she died in the early hours of March 23rd.
Triona told the coroner that she never knew that her sister was being taunted and bullied until she found her diaries on the morning of her funeral.
Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster, who carried out the postmortem on the teenager, said that Leanne died of an overdose of paracetamol and codeine.
She said no alcohol had been detected in her system at the time of her death.
Coroner Frank O'Connell said he was precluded from exploring why Leanne took her life. However, he said it was important to highlight the question of bullying.
He emphasised that there was no suggestion that the teenagers who had given evidence at the inquest had been in any way involved in bullying Leanne.
A verdict of death by self-cause was recorded.
After the inquest, Mrs Wolfe said she was disappointed that a verdict of death by bullying could not be recorded. She said all she could think about was getting through Christmas without her beloved daughter.
Mrs Wolfe had earlier told the coroner that she was her daughter's voice following her death and that she owed it to her to get the message out about the dangers of bullying. "A car crash is bad but suicide is hard to take. On the morning of her burial, we found her diaries and they completely overwhelmed us.
"We found out about the ongoing bullying by a group of six - two more than others. Leanne had put up with a lot of physical and verbal abuse.
"She left two pages [ of her diary] to be read out at her funeral. I am ashamed to say that I am her mother and I did not know that side of her life.
"The Leanne we knew wasn't the Leanne in the diaries. I wouldn't recognise the child in the diaries. It is very obvious she took her own life because of physical and verbal abuse."
Mrs Wolfe said that if her daughter had not been bullied she would not have taken her own life.
"Victims of bullying need to confide in their loved ones. I am heartbroken. I waited six years to have Leanne. She was the light of our life.
"Leanne isn't the only person. There are thousands like her out there."