Erskine Bridge deaths: Teenagers’ suicides could have been avoided

THE double suicide of two vulnerable teenage friends who jumped from a bridge into the River Clyde could have been prevented had the care home where they lived taken “reasonable precautions,” a sheriff has ruled.

In a critical fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the deaths of Niamh Lafferty and Georgia Rowe, Sheriff Ruth Anderson QC found the Renfrewshire home had wrongly put the girls in an unlocked, self-contained flat on the ground floor next to an unalarmed fire exit.

They had also failed to provide the right number of staff on duty the evening they took their own lives.

Niamh, 15, and Georgia, 14, absconded from the Good Shepherd Centre in Bishopton on a Sunday evening in October 2009 and died after jumping more than 100ft from the Erskine Bridge into the river. In her written determination into the FAI, which was heard over 65 days last year at Paisley Sheriff Court, Sheriff Anderson stated: “There was no accident. Both deaths were suicides.”

• Read the FAI report in full

She added that the deaths may have been avoided had two “reasonable precautions” been taken: namely, having at least four members of staff on duty at the centre’s open unit on 4 October 2009, and placing the two girls on the first floor rather than in the self-contained flat on the ground floor.

On the evening in question, there were only two staff members on duty, with at times just one member of staff in the building. The inquiry also revealed the fire alarm on the exit had been turned off on the orders of the home’s head of service, after its repeated activation caused “disruption” to staff.

The sheriff said both girls died as a result of injuries due to a fall from height. She added that despite the lack of adequate precautions “there were no defects in the system of working which contributed to the deaths”.

In her written determination, she said the deaths might have been avoided “on that day” if the two “reasonable precautions” had been taken on 4 October.

She said: “I had no hesitation, in light of all the evidence, in concluding that Niamh and Georgia were well aware of what they were doing, and the consequences for them.

“They chose on 4 October 2009 to take their own lives, although the reasons for doing so on that particular day, and together, will never be known.”

Evidence from social workers and family was heard throughout the inquiry about how the girls came to be in care, which revealed how both youngsters came from troubled backgrounds and endured chaotic lives. The inquiry heard that Niamh, from Helensburgh, was disturbed by the loss of her boyfriend eight months before and she had tried to take her own life in the months that followed.

Concerns were raised about 14-year-old Georgia’s mental health five years before she died, when she told social workers she was going to kill herself, the inquiry was told. But the inquiry heard that despite all their troubles, both girls were said to have spent a happy weekend with relatives before they died.

The FAI, which got under way last June, was told Niamh had been returned to the centre on 4 October by her mother after being on home leave that weekend. “Niamh was in good spirits and her behaviour over the weekend had given her mother no cause for concern,” the sheriff said.

Georgia went out for a meal with her aunt that afternoon and, having been dropped off at the centre at around 7.10pm, she “gave the impression of having enjoyed her time out”.

But the inquiry heard that both girls were captured on the unmonitored CCTV leaving the unit at 7:43pm and wearing outdoor clothes. Having walked approximately three miles to the Erskine Bridge, they then fell into the water at around 8:45pm.

Sheriff Anderson said: “I would wish once more to express my sympathy to the families of Niamh and Georgia and to put on record how grateful I am for the way in which those who attended the inquiry conducted themselves throughout.”

The Good Shepherd Centre open unit is now closed, but a statement was released on behalf of the board of managers of the centre’s secure unit expressing “renewed condolences” to the girls’ families. The board said it was grateful to the sheriff for “careful and patient consideration of the evidence and for the extensive findings”.

It said that while the open unit no longer exists, “any lessons which may be learned will be implemented in full, where they may be applicable to the secure unit, and this will undoubtedly be true also for other nits across Scotland dealing with vulnerable young people”.

The statement said: “What happened on 4 October 2009 was the saddest and most traumatic event in the history of the Good Shepherd open unit and was a significant factor in its eventual closure of that unit in June 2010.

“The impossibility of predicting such an event emerged in the evidence, but at the same time, weaknesses in the handling of the girls’ circumstances were identified, for which the board expresses its profound sorrow.”

The open unit has now been demolished. The Good Shepherd secure unit is a separate institution and was not the subject of the FAI’s evidence gathering or deliberations.

Argyll and Bute Council, which had placed Niamh in the unit, expressed its condolences to the girls’ family and friends.

It said: “Argyll and Bute Council has already taken a number of important steps to review internal processes and procedures to ensure that the process of risk assessment of accommodated children and communication about the risks they present is improved.”

The council said it was “currently considering the sheriff’s determination in detail” and would “strive to ensure that it has a positive and significant impact on the care of vulnerable young people in Argyll and Bute”.

Transport Scotland said a £3 million project to replace the existing parapet along both sides of the Erskine Bridge with a new 2.4 metre high parapet is due to be completed next month.