A coroner has said a 14-year-old's decision to take her own life was not caused by bullying. Megan Evans, from Milford Haven, died by suicide, an inquest has found.
Pembrokeshire coroner's court heard the Milford Haven School pupil was found dead at her home on February 7, 2017. Her family had claimed her death was linked to an alleged assault by a teacher and bullying over social media but senior coroner Paul Bennett found there were no grounds to support either claim.
Recording a conclusion of suicide, Mr Bennett said Megan intended to take her own life. "The decision to do so was not influenced by bullying or, per se, by social media," he added.
The coroner said none of the social media messages that had recently been sent to Megan amounted to bullying or abuse. The "key issue upsetting Megan", he said, was her boyfriend's alleged infidelity. Although she received messages about this, Mr Bennett said it was "the substance of the messages" rather than social media itself that upset Megan.
"She was troubled by concerns over her father's illness and there were arguments with other children over suggestions that her boyfriend was behaving badly," the coroner said. "It is, however, impossible to be certain what drove her to take the steps she did. I am equally satisfied that the steps she took were not related to bullying or a failure [by Megan's school] to prevent such bullying."
The inquest had heard evidence from Chloe Boswell, now 22, who described herself as Megan's best friend. She claimed Megan did not want to go to school because teachers were "horrible" to her. Ms Boswell accused one teacher of "picking away" at Megan over issues with her school uniform. Megan's family claimed the same teacher had continually "targeted" Megan and had assaulted her on school grounds.
But Mr Bennett said there was no objective evidence for these claims. He pointed to a Dyfed-Powys police investigation which reviewed CCTV footage and found no evidence the alleged assault took place.
The inquest also heard the school had been aware of a photo of Megan holding a cigarette being posted online. A pastoral assistant at the school told the pupil who shared the picture to delete it. Megan was "happy with the outcome", according to the pastoral worker.
Mr Bennett did not find grounds to support the family's claims that the school had done nothing to combat bullying and had failed to notice a deterioration in Megan's mood. He said the school had a range of safeguarding and anti-bullying policies. Apart from Ms Boswell, Megan had largely not confided in her friends about her struggles and had claimed to be "fine", said the coroner, who added: "If even her closest friends were unable to understand what was going on, I fail to see how the school could do so, regardless of what procedures were in place."
On the night Megan took her own life, her parents were out and she was at home with three of her siblings. She did not leave a suicide note but the coroner said the fact she was in a room rarely used by her family and had barricaded the door suggested that she did not want to be interrupted or found quickly. This was not, he said, a "cry for help scenario".
Following his conclusion of suicide, Mr Bennett expressed his condolences to Megan's family.
