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Mother criticises 'evil' social networks used by teen before she committed suicide The mother of a 13-year-old who hanged herself has criticised the social networks she used, where she believes other users prey on the vulnerable

The mother of a teenager who hanged herself has criticised the "evil" social networks she had been using. Chelsea Clark, 13, had previously harmed herself, ran away from home and taken an overdose but was discharged from hospital and classed as a "low risk" of self harm and suicide. Her mother, Margaret Clark, said she had confiscated mobile phones from the teenager, tried to limit her access to the internet and contact with a 14-year-old boy she had met online. She was found dead in the wardrobe of her home near Wolverhampton in the West Midlands on June 29, 2011. The Wolverhampton Girls' High School pupil had been using a number of social networking sites, including Ask.fm, in the months leading up to her death.

Mrs Clark told The Times: "Chelsea was on Ask.fm, she was on Formspring, both of which in my opinion are evil because [other users] target the weak and vulnerable when they are suffering from low self esteem, when they are at a low ebb. "I was trying to protect her from herself — she had almost gone down this tunnel."

A serious case review, carried out by Wolverhampton safeguarding children board, found hospital staff missed a number of opportunities to help the troubled teenager.

In May 2011 she took painkiller tablets in a "significant" overdose which left her in hospital for eight days. Medics briefly considered admitting her to a specialist adolescent unit but she was sent home without a pre-discharge meeting. Two weeks before she died she told a school psychologist she self harmed after hearing voices in her head. The teenager also wrote suicidal thoughts in her diary.

The review, which referred to her as 'FJ', found "a number of examples of individual sub-optimal practice" involving mental health staff, social and community services workers and the police. It made more than 30 recommendations to improve future care. It said: "Despite apparently showing only limited signs of depression, FJ emerged as feeling lonely, helpless and stressed in the face of high levels of pressure from within her family. "Observation of self-inflicted scarring on arms and abdomen by the GP and hospital respectively suggest also that FJ had found coping with her life more difficult than was obvious to others."

An inquest into her death in September 2011 heard Chelsea may have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder from her "stifling" home life.

The coroner recorded a narrative verdict, saying that it was unclear whether the suicide was intended.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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