16-year-old Girl Removed Batteries From Her Clock Before Killing Herself

Leah Hook, a 16-year-old girl took her own life after removing batteries from a clock as a message to her parents so that they knew when she died, an inquest has been told.

 

The teenager stayed at home over the Easter holidays while her family went for a bike ride.

 

According to Metro UK, when they returned they found her hanged with a plastic alarm clock next to her. body.

 

A coroner’s officer told an inquest in Gloucester: ‘Leah had taken a battery out of the clock so it stayed at 3.30pm.

‘Her dad believed this was a message to tell them what time she had gone.’

 

Her  parents dialled 999 but despite the attempts of paramedics, the schoolgirl could not be revived.

 

Leah’s father, Richard, told the inquest: ‘We were trying to go away for the Bank Holiday weekend.

 

‘We were trying to get her to come along to Devon, but she really didn’t want to go away. With hindsight maybe she had been waiting for an opportunity.

 

‘In the end we went out, we were worried about her, we tried to talk her into coming. She texted us while we were out, the texts seemed normal.

 

‘I texted her while I was in Bath but then I didn’t get a reply.’

 

Mr Hook, 52, and partner Deborah had left Leah at home in Stroud, Gloucestershire, while they cycled to nearby Bath, Somerset.

 

But when they returned to the house they found the teenager unresponsive, and began performing CPR while waiting for emergency services to arrive.

 

An inquest heard that Leah had been stressed because of her mock GCSEs, and had not gone to school that week.

 

She was said to have become withdrawn from friends and family, and had refused to go to the stables where she worked part time, saying she ‘couldn’t be bothered to do anything.’

 

The GCSE pupil had smoked cannabis before her death but a toxicology report could not specify how much, or when.

 

The inquest heard she had seen her GP in June 2015 for self-harming and had been referred to a support group but never followed up on it.

 

Senior coroner for Gloucestershire, Katie Skerrett, said: ‘She was in the house alone, her stepbrother was in Scotland and not expected to be back. She wrote detailed notes for what was to happen after.’

 

Mrs Skerrett added: ‘A young lady who felt very low in her life did not feel able to get support from other organisations or from her parents and took the most drastic action, leading to loss of life.’

 

Leah was a keen equestrian who started riding ponies as a primary school pupil.

 

Workers at the stables raised cash to pay for a permanent memorial to Leah, a statue of a horse with a plaque with her name on it.

 

They recalled how she was able to make children feel ‘happy and safe’ as she took them out on pony rides.

 

Her boss, Barton End owner Abby Cooke, said after her death: ‘I have known Leah since I started to teach her to ride in primary school, she was so enthusiastic that she spent all her spare time up here working.

 

‘She was a beautiful girl very hardworking and dedicated to my animals.

 

‘She ended up taking care of my children’s pets and showing them how to look after them properly and she was the primary carer for our petting animals.

 

‘She always had a kind word to say and loved taking small children on their first pony rides, chatting to them to make them feel happy and safe.

 

‘She always had a smile so it was even more heart-breaking to know that she was suffering inside and we didn’t know.

 

‘Our thoughts are with her mum and dad and family at this time.’

 

At an inquest at Gloucester Coroner’s Court, a conclusion of suicide was recorded.