Madison Richardson-Gleave, a 'bubbly, creative' schoolgirl, ended her own life on the day police interviewed witnesses over threatening social media posts made towards her. An inquest heard she 'wasn't bothered' about the online abuse.
Arrest and investigation
Greater Manchester Police arrested a 14-year-old boy on suspicion of harassment in the days following Madison's death. The force publicly announced the arrest last Christmas Eve, one month after Madison was found hanged at her Clayton home.
Manchester Coroner's Court heard today (August 3) how the 13-year-old's tragic death came amid fears for the future of a relationship with one of her schoolmates during a mental health spiral.
Coroner's findings
Manchester's senior coroner Zak Golombeck described the online abuse as 'one of the main dangers of social media' but found there were 'more relevant' issues that contributed to Madison's death. The inquest heard how Madison's family saw her 'behaviour change from quite a young age' as she struggled with her mental health.
Her struggles left her unable to attend school for a year, but after being referred to the Teenage Kicks school for children with special educational needs and disabilities in Failsworth, she began to enjoy school - particularly art.
Family's concerns
Madison's mum, Tessa Richardson, said her daughter 'was always up and down' but she had a history of self-harm and her mental health had deteriorated in the weeks before her death. Ms Richardson said Madison had 'thumped a wall' around a month before her death, and stopped eating for seven days in November.
Madison also 'told paramedics she wanted to die' two weeks before her death and after being taken to hospital, Ms Richardson said her daughter became 'too distressed and absconded'. Ms Richardson spoke to Manchester's child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) following a referral for her daughter, but was told the earliest an appointment could be made was November 28.
"I said I needed an emergency appointment for her and they said they had got the 28th," Ms Richardson said. "To me that wasn't an emergency. She should have been taken a bit more seriously."
Events leading to death
Ms Richardson had no concerns about Madison in the weekend leading up to Monday, November 24, or any worries as she went to school that morning. While at school, GMP officers attended to conduct interviews in connection with a series of threatening posts made against her by someone using the Snapchat platform.
The inquest heard that Madison had refused to be interviewed, telling police she wanted to return to class, while she later told her mum at home she 'wasn't bothered' about the situation. "She didn't seem fazed by it," said Ms Richardson. "I told her to block it, to stay off it... her words were 'she's not bothered, it's clearly someone behind a computer being a keyboard warrior'. It didn't bother her because they couldn't say it to her face."
The court heard Madison told her mum she was 'going for a nap', which was normal for her, but Madison was later found hanged. Officers attended the house and began a special procedure investigation, but police found there to be no suspicious circumstances or third party involvement, Detective Chief Inspector Chris Woodburn told the court.
Evidence and conclusion
A statement from James Docherty, executive headteacher at Teenage Kicks, said Madison was in a relationship with a boy at school which she feared could end, and that 'it did seem she had been struggling with this'. Ms Richardson later found a sketchbook belonging to her daughter, containing a note in which Madison apologised to the boy and told him she 'could just not do it any more'.
The sketchbook was handed to the police coroner's officer in January, and the note formed a crucial part of evidence for the inquest alongside Mr Docherty's statement, as Mr Golombeck gave a conclusion of suicide. He said: "[The note] is a difficult read for a girl so young, to be talking about herself in these terms... but it does appear that this had an effect on Madison's mental health and her decision making process in relation to the events of November 24."
A 14-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of harassment in connection with the Snapchat posts in the days following Madison's death, and later bailed. GMP confirmed today he has since been released with no further action to be taken.
Tributes
Paying tribute to her daughter, Ms Richardson said: "If she was having a good day, she would be doing her hair and make up, joining in with friends, laughing and joking. She loved playing pranks on people, she was a character. Some of the stuff she would do, she would have you laughing. She was just up and down, but she was a beautiful girl, had a lot of friends, was very popular. Everyone loved her."
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News following the inquest, Madison's aunt Lorren Gleave said her niece was 'full of life' and 'cheeky' - recalling how she earned the nickname 'Bananas' after dressing up in a banana costume. She also echoed Ms Richardson's concerns about a lack of support from CAMHS prior to her death. "As a family, there is a Madison-sized hole in our hearts," she said. "It's never, never going to be filled."
