Inquest opens into death of 'bullied' King's College pupil Fiona Geraghty
- Published
Fiona Geraghty was a pupil at King's College in Taunton
A teenager killed herself after being taunted by girls at her school over her weight, an inquest has heard.
Fiona Geraghty studied at King's College in Taunton where she developed an eating disorder and would often make herself vomit at school.
During the inquest in Taunton, her mother, a GP, criticised the care at the school and mental health service.
The 14-year-old was found hanging by a rope from her bedroom by her father at their home in Nailsbourne on 14 July.
Self-loathing
Emergency services were called but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Dr Elspeth Geraghty told the inquest she had talked to the school about her daughter's unhappiness and her eating disorder but she felt they did not take her concerns seriously enough.
Fiona Geraghty had attended as a day pupil at the school since September 2010.
"In the first term Fiona did have some relationship issues with girls in her peer group," said Dr Geraghty.
"Fiona appeared to have a real fear of puberty and the fear of growing into a woman. Fiona had a very poor body image."
Her mother was contacted by her daughter's housemistress in February 2011 over the possibility that she might be suffering bulimia, the inquest was told.
'Taunts' over size
After hearing of this she took her daughter to see their GP as their family had a history of eating disorders.
"Fiona said she started vomiting following taunts about her size," said Dr Geraghty.
Her mother also described how her daughter had written an English essay in which she had spoken clearly about her eating disorder and her self-loathing.
Instead of the essay causing concern among teachers, she received a good mark for her assignment, her mother told the inquest.
The inquest also heard from a mental health nurse, Ross Gillanders, of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Taunton.
Mr Gillanders discharged Fiona after four sessions of treatment, the inquest was told. He told the hearing that he believed she was improving and did not consider her as a suicide risk.
He also told the inquest he rated her as one on a suicide scale between one and 10, with 10 being the highest risk.
Her mother said she believed her daughter was let down by the mental health service.
The inquest is due to last for two days.