Lauren Jackson had been struggling with her mental health since the age of 14, but in the weeks before her death she appeared to be making plans for her future

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Lauren Jackson, 17, took her own life at her sixth-form college after struggling with her mental health

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She hanged herself at the beginning of the school day at Richard Huish College in Somerset in February

A 17-year-old A-level student who had struggled with serious mental health difficulties throughout her teenage years died by suicide at her sixth-form college, an inquest has heard.

Lauren Jackson had appeared to be looking ahead in the weeks before her death. She had started driving lessons and visited several universities as she considered where she might study after completing her A-levels.

But in February, Lauren was found unresponsive at Richard Huish College in Taunton, Somerset, at the beginning of the school day.

The teenager had previously told doctors that the antidepressant she was taking no longer appeared to be working effectively.

PE teacher Lisa Wren discovered Lauren and alerted colleagues, who rushed to help and began CPR while emergency services were contacted.

Lauren was taken to hospital by air ambulance and admitted to intensive care. A scan showed she had suffered a hypoxic brain injury, and doctors warned her parents that she was unlikely to survive.

She died two days later with her family at her bedside.

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Medical records showed that Lauren had recorded mental health concerns from the age of 14, visiting her GP three years before her death to report experiencing panic attacks, OCD and intrusive thoughts

Her mother received a call from the college at 9.15am

Lauren’s mother, Estelle Jackson, told the inquest that she received a phone call from the college at around 9.15am informing her that her daughter had been found unresponsive.

In a written statement, Mrs Jackson said the shock was so overwhelming that when she tried to walk, her legs ‘stopped working’ and she collapsed. A colleague helped her up before driving her to the college.

She and her husband, Graham, then accompanied Lauren to hospital, remaining there for the next 48 hours until their daughter’s death.

Mrs Jackson said Lauren had become increasingly withdrawn during her teenage years. She rarely spoke with her and, at times, appeared not to regard her parents in that role.

Yet there had been no obvious indication in the days immediately before her death that Lauren was about to take her own life.

She had booked driving lessons and continued making plans for university, giving her family the impression that she was thinking about life after her A-levels.

Lauren had received years of mental health support

Medical records presented to the inquest showed that Lauren had experienced mental health difficulties from the age of 14.

She had visited her GP after experiencing panic attacks, OCD and intrusive thoughts, and also disclosed that she had self-harmed.

Lauren was subsequently referred for mental health support and had around 33 meetings with professionals from mental health and children’s services.

She was offered therapy and was later prescribed the antidepressant sertraline. Her dose began at 25mg a day and was eventually increased to 150mg.

Initially, Lauren said the medication was helping.

But by January, about a month before her death, she told her key worker that its effect appeared to be wearing off.

During a face-to-face appointment, she was described as ‘shivering, crying and feeling unsafe’.

Dr Arjuna Pattapola told the inquest that Lauren had experienced emotional dysregulation, attachment difficulties, disrupted sleep and eating, panic attacks and psychosomatic complaints. She was also struggling with relationships with both her peers and her family.

Lauren had additionally reported a number of incidents that she found disturbing, including an allegation that a bar of soap had been placed in her bowl of porridge.

College staff knew Lauren had spoken about dying

Richard Huish College is one of the country’s state-run sixth-form colleges offering boarding and has around 2,250 students.

Matthew Nolan, the college’s safeguarding lead, said Lauren had previously spoken about wanting to die and had sometimes described how she might do so.

In his written statement, he said Lauren would regularly come to his office crying and shaking and tell him that she was struggling.

On the morning of her death, staff responded quickly after Lauren was discovered unresponsive.

Despite their efforts, she could not be revived to a point where she regained consciousness.

Dr Daniel Shuttleworth, the consulting manager in the intensive care unit who oversaw Lauren’s treatment, said her heart had been successfully restarted but she failed to respond to external stimuli.

He gave the cause of death as a hypoxic brain injury caused by suspension.

Friend’s account of alleged childhood abuse examined at inquest

Following Lauren’s death, a friend told others that Lauren had previously confided in her that she had been sexually assaulted as a young child.

Police subsequently examined Lauren’s diary, where they found two entries that contradicted that account.

In one, Lauren wrote that she had suppressed feelings of guilt because she believed she had lied about being sexually abused as a way of seeking attention.

In another entry, she wrote that she had never been sexually abused.

The inquest considered the material as part of the wider circumstances surrounding Lauren’s mental health and her death.

Coroner records verdict of suicide

Assistant coroner Vanessa McKinlay recorded a verdict of suicide following the inquest in Taunton.

She noted that Lauren had struggled to engage with therapy, although she had regularly attended sessions with her key worker and had met psychologists on several occasions.

The coroner said there had been no way for those around Lauren to know what she was going to do that day.

‘No one could have seen what Lauren was going to do on that day,’ she said.

The inquest at the Old Municipal Buildings in Taunton heard how, despite years of mental health difficulties and extensive contact with support services, Lauren had continued to make plans for her future shortly before her death.