A SCHOOLGIRL tragically took her own life after suffering crippling anxiety over returning to school following the Covid-19 lockdown and 'falling behind in schoolwork', an inquest has heard.

Kayley Taylor, 14, was so overwhelmed by anxiety when students began going back to class for the first time she could not get out of bed or get dressed.

The "little poppet" told her mother "you don't understand, I can't do it", having suffered connection issues on Microsoft Teams and struggled to keep up with homework.

The teenager's mother accused her all-girls secondary school, where another teen had also just killed herself, of "pressuring" Kayley into returning and alleged her GP "let her down" by failing to speak to Kayley or see her.

On June 17 last year, Kayley messaged a friend saying "I love you but I can't do it anymore… I want to kill myself" and hanged herself in a park yards from her home in Horsham, West Sussex.

Another worried friend desperately rushed to the woodland site and tried to talk her out of killing herself after Kayley sent her a Snapchat video outlining her plan.

Read more about Mental Health

The 6 symptoms of depression you must NEVER ignore

Our sons were brainwashed into killing themselves by evil ‘suicide forums’

However, tragically the girl witnessed as her school friend hanged herself. It emerged Kayley tried to kill herself at the same woodland spot a week earlier.

Kayley, of Millais Secondary School, was the second student at the school of 1,500 girls to die amid mental health battles in the space of six weeks after 14 year old Robyn Skilton passed away on May 7, 2021.

Most read in The Sun

Today, at Kayley's inquest in Chichester, West Sussex, her mother, Melissa Taylor, said her daughter was a "conscientious student" who loved spending time with her family, in particular visiting her grandmother, and playing crazy golf, croquet and table tennis.

She said: "She was calm, quiet, loving, generous, kind and school reports said similar. After lockdown she was anxious.

"From the very first day when they went back [she suffered anxiety]. On the first day she was just in her bed crying and she squeezed me so hard, there was no way she was going back to school.

"She was worried because she had missed school.

She said she was lonely in class if not sat with her friend – it broke my heart. She was happy at break when she was with her friends.

"After that it was similar. Some days she would not get up, some days she would get up and get dressed and that's as far as she got.

"I tried to encourage her by talking to her and she said 'mum, you don't understand, I can't do it'.

"I asked if it was going to school or going to see friends again, and she could not explain it."

Mrs Taylor said: "I believe the school were more concerned about getting her back rather than helping her, they would not let her work from home.

"I was pressured to get her to school by being threatened to get the authorities involved. They said they weren't going to authorise anymore absences. The school let Kayley down.

"She said she was lonely in class if not sat with her friend – it broke my heart. She was happy at break when she was with her friends.

"She kept struggling to get into Teams. She kept getting a lot of emails from teachers saying 'you are not here' or 'log on' and she told them she was having issues.

"I told her there was nothing more we could do, I told her 'don't worry, don't panic'."

Allan Taylor, Kayley's father, said his daughter told him there were 'too many people about'.

'NOWHERE TO GO'

Mrs Taylor arranged a phone appointment with Horsham GP Dr Tariq Jahangir, but told the inquest he didn't want to speak to Kayley or see her in person.

An emotional Mr Taylor asked Dr Jahangir: "I strongly believe we were let down by the GP. Why didn't you see her?"

Dr Jahangir said he wrote to Kayley's school, said Kayley did not present too much concern at the time, and that prescribing a young girl medication would have been outside usual practice.

Mrs Taylor felt she was left with "nowhere to go" as she could not get a referral for Youth Emotional Service [YES], which provides mental health support to teens, because Kayley would not complete a questionnaire and she was told she could not do it without her daughter's consent.

In questioning Mike Sutton, deputy head and safeguarding lead at the school, Mrs Taylor said: "My concern was that the one time Kayley suggested to work from home she was just refused point blank."

Mr Sutton said: "I'm saddened to hear that the suggestion was not taken up, I would have liked to think that our flexible approach would have meant we could adhere to it."

Mr Sutton said the school was "duty bound to try to encourage children to attend school" and did not involve authorities.

Kayley's tutor, Caroline Jones, told how she offered Kayley and her mother a Samaritans consultation after Robyn's death but she didn't want any help.

Emotional Ms Jones, who Mrs Taylor said helped Kayley, cried as she described the youngster as a "quiet little thing" who never showed any suicidal ideations.

Mrs Taylor and Kayley's friends said on the morning of her death, the teen 'seemed in a good mood' and went to school.

However, after school, she messaged one friend "I love you but I can't do it anymore, two of my friends have killed themselves, I want to kill myself".

One friend called Kayley, who was in tears and said "she was going to end it", and they called police.

You’re Not Alone

EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide.

It doesn't discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.

It's the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.

And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.

Yet it's rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.

That is why The Sun launched the You're Not Alone campaign.

The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.

Let's all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… You're Not Alone.

If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:

• CALM, www.thecalmzone.net, 0800 585 858
• Heads Together, www.headstogether.org.uk
• Mind, www.mind.org.uk, 0300 123 3393
• Papyrus, www.papyrus-uk.org, 0800 068 41 41
• Samaritans, www.samaritans.org, 116 123
• Movember, www.uk.movember.com
• Anxiety UK www.anxietyuk.org.uk, 03444 775 774 Monday-Friday 9.30am-10pm, Saturday/Sunday 10am-8pm

Phone records show Kayley had spoken about "gender identity" with a friend and "thanked them for being supportive" before saying "I'm sorry for this".

"I've been struggling for a while and I'm going to end it", Kayley said in one message.

Suicide notes were also found after paramedics arrived at the scene around 5.30pm.

Coroner Penelope Schofield ruled Kayley killed herself but recorded a narrative conclusion.

She said: "Although she was 14 she was really suffering with her anxiety. I'm satisfied she knew what she was doing.

"She took her own life while suffering from acute anxiety brought about by the effects of the national lockdown and her concerns of falling behind in schoolwork."

Most read in The Sun

Ms Schofield added: "Unfortunately the GP didn't speak with Kayley himself."

Ms Schofield made a recommendation that the YES rules are clearer surrounding referrals for teens in need of help.

Source: Read Full Article