14-year old girl commits suicide 'after being teased by friends for being poor'

Ashleigh Bowes took a fatal overdose of prescription tablets after making a five minute video 'selfie' on her mobile phone in the hours before her death.

Ashley was suffering from anorexia and depression and claimed other girls at her high school had begun mocking because her mother used a motorbike to get about.

She was found dead at her family's £180,000 home in Macclesfield, Cheshire.

One diary entry from Ashleigh found after her death read: "I can't believe you told xxxx I was depressed. I trusted you. I thought you would understand. I can't stand it. You were so rude the other day. SO RUDE. When I left the park I cried. I was losing my friends. Depression hurts. Anorexia hurts. It's nothing to joke about. Words kill...

"Taking the pss out of my food and my mum. We are poor. We can't have the big brands like you do.. Count yourself lucky that you are so blessed. I am blessed. It is not funny to take the pss out of anorexia. Every time you teased it hurt. Watch your words."

Ashley once told her psychiatrist that she was having suicidal thoughts and she was referred to The Priory for treatment for an eating disorder and depression in November 2013.

She started taking anti depressants in February 2014 but feared classmates would find out about her treatment.

Her mother, divorcee Mrs Bowes, 43, a beauty therapist told the hearing: "Ashleigh came home very angry because she didn't want her friends to know she was going to the Priory or seeking any treatment. She was angry that I had initiated it.

"Ashleigh didn't want her class friends to know she was going to the Priory because she felt they would tease her about it. She told me in April that her class friends were taking the mickey out of her. 'I bought a motorbike at that point and she said they would laugh that I had that.

Miss Claire Evans, a cognitive behavioural psychotherapist, who specialises in eating disorders and depression, said: "Ashleigh's mood would drop when she was with the peers at school, she felt she was not good enough and felt she didn't fit in.

''She felt she was not attractive of as popular as everyone else at school and she did say the girls at school were very bitchy and critical. She had fleeting suicidal thoughts where she wanted to end her distress but had not made any plans to take her own life.

"After she was discharged things were very positive and she had responded well to treatment. She was enjoying joking with friends and showed me selfie photos with friends at a party. Her mood when we last met seemed quite stable and she was looking forward to school holidays. I was shocked and distressed to hear what happened to her."

14-year old girl commits suicide 'after being teased by friends for being poor'

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Recommended articles