Bury St Edmunds schoolgirl Georgia Scarff, 16, took her own life, inquest rules

A Bury St Edmunds schoolgirl who died after a crash on the A14 last year took her own life, an inquest has heard.

The inquest into the death of Georgia Scarff, who died after being involved in a collision with a lorry in Bury at about 1.30am on Monday, April 15, 2024, concluded today.

Georgia was a year 11 student at Royal Hospital School (RHS), in Holbrook.

The 16-year-old’s cause of death was found to be a head injury contributed by a road traffic collision, the court was told.

Summing up evidence, Darren Stewart, coroner, ruled Georgia was not suicidal before April 15, with it being a spur of the moment decision.

He said: “It’s clear to me from the evidence she spent some time wandering around Bury before stepping in front of the vehicle.

“I find it was spur of the moment decision where she acted impulsively. Although acting impulsively and without contemplating consequences, she did intend to take her own life at that point.”

Georgia was described as a significantly positive force in people’s lives, with a passion for sports, while being a kind and compassionate person who exuded warmth and self-assured charisma.

After returning home for the Easter holidays, she began to make plans for the future, including considering her options for sixth form, buying tickets for a concert during the summer and playing representative tchoukball fixtures.

Georgia began to suffer from stress and anxiety in the months leading up to her death, which caused her to feel physically sick, the court was told.

She met with school nurses and had three counselling sessions.

Georgia had been on a school watchlist due to her father’s death in 2010.

Mr Stewart said the actions taken by the school were timely and appropriate and not causative of Georgia’s death.

He praised the school’s safeguarding systems but raised concerns over some missing information that had not been logged, which he worried could impact safeguarding in the future.

He also said he would write to the Secretary of State for education with his concerns over the need for effective safeguarding in schools.

Giving his conclusion, Mr Stewart found Georgia appeared fine at 9pm on April 14, just hours before her death.

Georgia’s mother was awoken at 1.21am to missed calls and ‘disturbing WhatsApp messages’ from Georgia and used an app to track down her phone, the court heard.

She called her daughter and pleaded with her not to do anything before dialling 999.

Messages indicated Georgia felt she could ‘not go on’, Mr Stewart said.

Mr Stewart praised Mrs Scarff for her actions.

He added: “I reflect as a parent myself, the distress and terror Mrs Scarff must have felt at that time, desperately trying to secure help for her daughter and getting police to her in good time while at same time assuring her daughter and pleading with her not to do harm.

“I cannot imagine how dreadful a set of circumstances Mrs Scarff found herself at that time.

“Nothing I can say will ever bring Georgia back or ease the pain you continue to suffer.

“However, I wish to extend my sincere condolences to her family and friends and also make an observation on the manner you have conducted yourselves. You could not have created a more fitting tribute to Georgia's memory.”

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