Family Seeking Civil Action After Girl 'Bullied to Death'

The distraught mother of an Irish teenager who committed suicide is adamant that her daughter was bullied to death.

Colette Wolfe is convinced that 18-year-old Leanne took her own life after suffering a five-year ordeal of physical and verbal abuse from six female bullies.

Wolfe had asked a coroner's inquest to return a verdict of suicide through bullying.

However, the coroner ruled instead that Leanne's death was "self-caused."

On the day of her funeral, Leanne's family discovered a diary she had kept that recorded the bullying in detail.

It revealed how the bullies pulled out clumps of her hair, verbally abused her and even gave her a black eye.

Speaking after the inquest in Cobh, County Cork, a sobbing Wolfe said: "I wouldn't recognize the child in the diaries.

"I am her mother and I am ashamed to say that I did not know that side of her life.

"We were completely overwhelmed when we found her diary on the morning of her burial.

"Leanne left two pages of her diary to be read out at her funeral — it is obvious she took her own life because of physical and verbal abuse."

Those two diary entries read: "Dear diary, if anything happens to me I want this read out at my funeral.

"I can't go on with this any more. I can't live with it any more, it's not fair.

"All I want is someone I can talk to about it and love, and love, and love."

One of Leanne's last acts was to send a text to her parents, who were on holiday, telling them how much she loved them.

Leanne's body was discovered in her bedroom by her sister, Triona, at the family home in Carrigtwohill.

Assistant state pathologist Margaret Bolster confirmed that Leanne died from an overdose of paracetemol and codeine, but there was no trace of alcohol found in her system.

The Wolfe family are taking legal advice on whether civil action can be taken against the six girls who made Leanne's life a living nightmare.

Wolfe has bravely said that she would like the issue of bullying highlighted so no other family endures what they have suffered.

"I would plead with anyone who is worried about bullying to trust someone — to reach out to someone," she said.