A teenage girl overcome with grief at the sudden death of her friend killed herself in her mother’s garage shortly after his funeral, an inquest has heard today.
Sixteen-year-old Ciara Witt witnessed her close friend Jack Gudge, 17, get hit during a fight with a group of men outside a Tesco Express store and cradled him in her arms as he died.
An inquest heard she had taken his death very badly, with one friend describing it as the ‘last straw’ in her troubled life.
Ciara Witt, left, took her own life the day after the funeral of her friend Jack Gudge, right
Ciara had last been seen around the Kinson Cemetery where her friend Jack was interred
Just days before her death she had attended Jack’s funeral and spent a lot of time at the cemetery by his graveside.
Ciara disappeared on November 4 last year – the day after the funeral – and was later in the garage of her home in Bournemouth, Dorset.
Police had been called at 11.30pm on the day she went missing and officers arrived at her house at about 4am on November 5 but failed to look in the garage at that time.
It wasn’t until 9.30pm that night that Ciara’s body was found by a 15-year-old family friend.
Today a police officer involved in the incident apologised for the mistake after the Dorset coroner raised concerns about the inadequate search.
A message that a full search must be conducted had been disseminated across the force.
Mr Gudge’s coffin was covered in three white stripes like an Adidas footwear box
One of the floral tributes spelled out the letters of Mr Gudge’s favourite word, chav
Ms Witt cradled Mr Gudge after he was assaulted at the crime scene, pictured
The mistake was later compounded after investigating officers failed to remove vital evidence of the method used by Ciara to take her own life.
Ciara’s grandmother Lesley Hartwell told the inquest how police left behind a section of the device the youngster used to end her life.
‘I had to go in to remove it and I want to know why that wasn’t done. It’s disgusting.’
Dorset coroner Rachael Griffin said: ‘I am very sorry that you had to experience that. It is unacceptable. You should not have had to do that.’
Addressing the police officers at the inquest Mrs Griffin added: ‘That concerns me that you forgot to search the garage. How can you reassure me that won’t happen again?’
The hearing heard Ciara had some problems with her mood and had previously self-harmed and had been referred to CAMS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service).
But she became very low following Jack’s death in July last year.
Jack died after falling to the ground and suffered brain injuries before going into cardiac arrest.
Three men aged 27, 24 and 23 and a 15-year-old boy were initially arrested on suspicion of murder but police later confirmed no one will face criminal charges.
The inquest heard Ciara made an earlier attempt on her own life last August – a month after Jack’s death – and told her mother she ‘wanted to be with her friend’.
Hundreds of mourners attended Jack’s funeral on November 3, where he was buried in a bright blue coffin designed to look like an Adidas shoebox. He had a flower arrangement spelling his favourite word ‘Chav’.
Ciara’s mother Melissa Witt last saw her on the morning of November 4 when she said her daughter seemed in ‘good spirits’ and there was nothing to indicate any concern.
Dean Diffey, 15, had been visiting Ciara’s brother and left the house to go to the shop when he heard a moped alarm going off in the garage at 9.30pm on November 5. He went to check it out and found Ciara’s body.
The inquest heard Ciara’s body had fallen to the ground, setting off the moped alarm. She was unresponsive on the floor.
A statement by one of her best friends Carolanne Lowe said: ‘Ciara was best friends with Jack and his death had a huge impact – it was the final straw.. She was holding Jack in her arms when he died.
‘For the first month she found it really difficult and told me she didn’t want to be here anymore.
‘We talked about suicide but she said she couldn’t because of her mum, brother and sister.
‘As time passed she seemed stronger.’
PC Carpenter, of Dorset police, confirmed she had forgotten to search the garden and garage when she first arrived at Ciara’s house.
She said she was ‘distracted’ when Miss Witt and her colleague PC Scott James entered the kitchen having been upstairs.
She said: ‘Miss Witt appeared and seemed upset. I turned to have a conversation with her.
‘I didn’t realise until I returned to shift the next evening and had the sinking feeling that I hadn’t been outside. I am very sorry.’
A post mortem examination confirmed the cause of death was fatal pressure to the neck.
Mrs Griffin recorded a suicide verdict.
Jack’s inquest, which is expected to take three days, is due to be heard in November.
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