Bullying of Charley-Ann Patterson 'did not cross criminal threshold'

A 12-year-old miss who killed herself "suffered immoderate bullying" but the maltreatment did not "cross the transgression threshold", a constabulary serviceman has told her inquest.

Charley-Ann Patterson was recovered dormant astatine her location successful Cramlington, Northumberland, connected 1 October 2020.

Det Sgt Lee Baldwin said she had been called names, including sexually violative slurs, and radical had clapped successful her look to "make amusive of her tics".

Her parents person said she struggled to get intelligence wellness support.

During an probe aft the schoolgirl's death, a fig of radical known to the household "raised concerns astir Charley being bullied", Det Sgt Baldwin told Northumberland Coroner's Court.

That had included name-calling arsenic good arsenic comments specified arsenic "I anticipation you get tally implicit by a bus", helium added.

When Charley was recovered dormant successful her bedroom, she had the connection "freak" written connected her manus and the tv was paused connected a surface that said: "I'm a misfit."

The proceeding was told constabulary considered transgression offences including encouraging termination and malicious communications.

However, Det Sgt Baldwin said: "Although it is imaginable to find incidents and place persons who person connected occasions said oregon done thing to Charley which would person undoubtedly caused immoderate distress, nary of those incidents look to beryllium capable to transverse the transgression threshold.

"As a result, nary prosecutions person been progressed."

He added: "There is thing to suggest the decease was thing different than a suicide."

On Wednesday, the inquest heard that successful March 2020, conscionable earlier the archetypal Covid-19 lockdown, Charley sent an email to a schoolhouse unit subordinate asking whether it would beryllium imaginable to determination forms arsenic a miss "keeps spreading rumours astir me".

The connection continued: "Other radical person started joining successful and being mean to me."

Gill Travers, designated safeguarding pb astatine Cramlington Learning Village, told the proceeding that erstwhile asked astir the email, Charley had "backtracked" and said it was "more of a lawsuit of radical not talking to her".