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Gaia Pope death: Teen's mental health a factor, inquest concludes | Gaia Pope death: Teen's mental health a factor, inquest concludes |
(32 minutes later) | |
Gaia Pope's body was found 11 days after she went missing in November 2017 | Gaia Pope's body was found 11 days after she went missing in November 2017 |
Teenager Gaia Pope's mental health and a lack of medical after-care probably caused or contributed to her death, an inquest jury has concluded. | |
Miss Pope, 19, was found dead 11 days after going missing in Swanage, Dorset, in 2017. | Miss Pope, 19, was found dead 11 days after going missing in Swanage, Dorset, in 2017. |
Her body was found in undergrowth near clifftops. A post-mortem examination revealed she died of hypothermia. | Her body was found in undergrowth near clifftops. A post-mortem examination revealed she died of hypothermia. |
At Dorset Coroner's Court, the jury returned a unanimous narrative conclusion. | At Dorset Coroner's Court, the jury returned a unanimous narrative conclusion. |
It concluded that a failure to provide follow-up care after she was discharged from hospital weeks before she went missing may also have been a factor in causing her death. | |
Miss Pope had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after revealing she had been drugged and raped by a man when she was 16. | |
But relatives told the inquest she felt police did not believe her when she reported it and that pursuing any complaint would have been traumatic. | |
She had been treated in hospital in February and March 2017, where she was sexually harassed by a patient, after being sectioned following a seizure and developing psychosis. | |
Police searches were criticised by Miss Pope's family | Police searches were criticised by Miss Pope's family |
She was further assessed at Poole Hospital in October that year but discharged and sent home without any community support. | |
On the day she disappeared Miss Pope had been anxious after being told of her alleged rapist's release from prison for other sex offences. | |
She died at some point between 15:59 GMT on 7 November 2017 and 10:00 on 8 November, the court heard. | |
The jury concluded that her death was "probably caused by her mental health and mental state on November 7 2017". | The jury concluded that her death was "probably caused by her mental health and mental state on November 7 2017". |
Police failures | |
Her mother, Kim Pope, had tried reporting her daughter missing and her aunt called Dorset Police five times in the hours after she disappeared. | Her mother, Kim Pope, had tried reporting her daughter missing and her aunt called Dorset Police five times in the hours after she disappeared. |
She had left her aunt's home in Swanage at 15:40 on 7 November. | She had left her aunt's home in Swanage at 15:40 on 7 November. |
But a formal missing person report was not logged by police until 18:15, the jury heard. | But a formal missing person report was not logged by police until 18:15, the jury heard. |
Dorset Police's chief constable Scott Chilton accepted earlier there were several failures made in the search for Miss Pope. | |
But the jury found the force's handling of the case had not caused or contributed to her death. | |
Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk. | Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk. |