Schoolgirl, 14, whose body was found in a park, took her own life after spending the night before drinking with friends
- Maisy Lewis, 14, was found beneath a climbing frame by locals in October 2017
- Coroner ruled she took her own life and died from neck compression by hanging
- The teenager had spent the night before drinking with friends, an inquest heard
- The coroner added that the alcohol may have influenced her mind and actions
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A 14-year-old schoolgirl, whose body was found in a park, was drinking with friends on the night she was last seen, an inquest has heard.
Maisy Lewis was found beneath a climbing frame by locals out walking their dogs in Sandymoor, near Runcorn, Cheshire in October 2017.
The teenager had been drinking a bottle of wine and a bottle of Coca Cola with vodka, according to friends who had been with her the night before she was found.
Alan Moore, senior coroner for Cheshire, concluded that Maisy, died from neck compression from hanging and that she intended to take her own life, before adding that alcohol ‘could well have influenced her state of mind and actions’.
Maisy Lewis, 14, was found beneath a climbing frame by locals out walking their dogs in Sandymoor, near Runcorn, Cheshire in October 2017
Maisy was fully clothed when she was found and died between 12 and 14 hours before she was found.
A note was also written in ink on her arm.
Police said that there was no sign of third-party involvement in her death.
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One witness, who cannot be identified, said they last saw Maisy walk towards her home, which was about five minutes away.
Toxicology tests found Maisy’s blood contained enough alcohol to ‘be expected to cause intoxication in a normal social drinker’.
However, because of her age, the effect of the alcohol could have caused an ‘exaggerated emotional response’.
In his conclusion Mr Moore said: ‘The forensic pathologist, he said the concentration of alcohol could well have influenced her state of mind and actions, and I would agree with that comment. It’s significant.
The schoolgirl had been drinking with her friends the night before her body was found, an inquest heard
‘Maisy was only 14 and a naive drinker and unused to alcohol. One can only imagine what effect that would have had on her thinking and subsequent actions that day.’
Her parents Carl and Kimberley Lewis said that a bottle of wine was missing from their fridge on the night Maisy died.
They added that she wasn’t a regular drinker, though they had spoken to her about alcohol.
Mrs Lewis said Maisy had complained of anxiety at school, but it seemed like a ‘one off’.
On October 14, her daughter had seemed her ‘normal happy self’, the inquest was told.
A coroner ruled that alcohol ‘could well have influenced her state of mind and actions’ and that she took her own life
Mr Lewis said in his statement that Maisy was a ‘typical teenager’ and on the day before she was found dead had been ‘her usual self’ and ‘happy’.
He said he thought an Alzheimers walk a week earlier had had a ‘significant impact’ on Maisy due to the commemorative notes left by relatives in tribute to their lost loved ones.
She had lost two of her own grandparents just months apart.
Maisy had spent a day watching cartoons sat in bed on the Wednesday, which he thought showed ‘melancholy’.
The teenager was found by two dog walkers under a climbing frame in a park. She had been dead for 12 hours
With regards to the bereavement, he said she was ‘quiet’.
Neither parent was aware of any history of self-harm or intention to take her own life.
Emma Simpson, the then-principal of Sandymoor School, which Maisy attended, said she was well behaved and on target to achieve a Grade 5 or above in all of her GCSE subjects.
In addition, she had achieved the highest number of reward points in her year group.
However, Maisy had suffered anxiety and Miss Simpson said she sometimes had ‘low confidence and self-esteem’, particularly around speaking up in class.
She was monitored with no further concerns but fell out with some female friends around the time of her birthday in July 2017 and began spending more time with male friends, the hearing was told.
Mr Moore ended the inquest by offering his condolences to Maisy’s family.
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