Girl, 14, took her own life after parents separated

A teenager distraught at the breakdown of her parents' marriage hanged herself from a tree in remote woodland after carving the word "sorry" into the trunk, an inquest heard yesterday.

Alison Friend, 14, became depressed after her father, Peter, admitted to an affair and left the family home near Wellington, Somerset, in May last year. She disappeared this April after farewell notes were found in her school locker.

Her body was discovered two days later after a large-scale police hunt. She was found hanging in woodland half a mile from her home, wearing the school uniform she had last been seen in.

Her mother Judith told the hearing in Taunton that Alison, a bright pupil at a nearby comprehensive, had been badly affected when her father, a worker for the charity Mencap, left home. Mrs Friend said in a statement: "When her dad left, it was like a bomb going off in the house. It affected everyone, but Alison took it very much to heart – she took a lot of time to come to terms with it.

"Alison was jealous of her father's girlfriend. She wanted him to say 'sorry' but he didn't."

The inquest was told that Alison was cutting herself on her arms and legs, and had talked about it with her mother. She had not wanted counselling, and the pair were trying to deal with it together. "She gave no indication that her mind was so troubled that she was contemplating suicide," Mrs Friend added in her statement.

But statements from Alison's friends at Castle School in Taunton showed she had been talking about suicide. A schoolfriend, whose name was withheld, said: "I heard her asking friends what people would think if she died."

The inquest heard how, the day she disappeared, Alison gave her keys to her best friend and told her to open her locker if she was not in school the next day. But her friend was so concerned that she opened the locker the same day, finding six letters addressed to people at the school and a gift inside.

Teachers were told and Mrs Friend was called to the school. She drove home with her daughter, who was angry that her mother had seen the notes, the inquest heard. Mrs Friend left Alison to shut the gate behind the car, but Alison never came to the house.

PC Simon Mudge told the hearing he had been among the officers who found Alison, and removed her body from the tree where it was hanging.

Recording his verdict, Michael Rose, the Somerset coroner, said: "Few people realise the effect that a break-up of any family will have on children unless they have been through that themselves. Alison was obviously, in her last weeks, very disturbed."