Railway death girl rape 'trigger'

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A 14-year-old girl's psychiatrist has told an inquest jury in Cardiff that she was raped exactly a month before she walked in front of a train.

Ahmed Darwish said Kay Miller had suffered from anorexia and depression but these were not responsible.

The rape had "pulled the trigger" in the mind of the teenager, he said.

The inquest also heard she ran away crying on the evening she died after a row when an alleged bully had been confronted by her stepbrother.

The inquest jury heard how the teenager ran away and walked in front of the train, which was travelling at 40mph between Heath High Level and Llanishen stations in Cardiff.

She loved to go shopping and she loved to talk about her problems, to explain to people her mental health problems. Stepfather Tim Hillard

A photograph, taken from the train's cab camera, showed Miss Miller facing the oncoming train, her hands by her sides, moments before she was hit.

Jurors were also told how she was tackling her health problems - a borderline personality disorder and anorexia.

Her psychiatrist Ahmed Darwish said her condition had improved dramatically in the previous months but the rape, which had happened on her way home from school a month earlier, had "pulled the trigger" in her mind.

Police discontinued the rape investigation after Miss Miller died.

Social worker Janet Rees said of the rape allegation: "It was a very traumatic process. Perhaps that is something that tipped the balance."

'Good kid'

Miss Miller's mother Susan said: "There were many times we saved her.

"It wasn't a curable thing but if we had more time and the right kind of care earlier, she could have coped with it better and coped with the illness better."

Mr Hillard said the "black monster" inside his stepdaughter used to "take over" and pushed her "to do these things".

"She had made attempts on her life before by slashing her wrists, by taking an overdose and by going to the railway line.

"But she was a good kid. She loved cuddles with her mum. She loved to go shopping and she loved to talk about her problems, to explain to people her mental health problems.

'Ran away'

On the evening she died, 27 August 2006, Miss Miller had become upset when her stepbrother Geraint Miller - a Welsh Guardsman home from Bosnia - warned a classmate Scott Walker to stay away from her.

He had been walking home from the pub with his father Tim Hillard when they spotted the classmate, the inquest heard.

Tim Hillard alleged at the inquest that Scott Walker had in the past bullied Miss Miller and "had a go" at her younger sister.

"We were walking along and Geraint, playing big brother, was looking after Kay because she was a bit edgy.

"He went up to the boy, told him to leave Kay alone and pushed him over a wall."

Mr Hillard told the inquest how more people became involved and police were called.

He said he told his stepdaughter, a pupil at Llanishen High School, and her younger sister to go home.

Miss Miller's sister in a written statement: "Kay just ran away crying. She was a bit hysterical".

Mr Hillard at the police station later received a call saying the teenager had disappeared.

He said: "I went to the railway line where I'd found her before and was going down the embankment when I heard the train.

"I pushed my way through brambles, looked left and saw Kay on the line.

"I called for her to get off the line and I went over. She was lying on the line. I knew she was dead."

A post mortem examination revealed Miss Miller died from blunt force trauma to the head and chest.

The inquest continues on Wednesday.