Tragic: Elizabeth Gresty (pictured) hanged herself after she was given an after-school detention for refusing to tie her hair up in class, an inquest hea
A schoolgirl hanged herself after she was given an after-school detention for refusing to tie her hair up in class, an inquest heard.
Elizabeth Gresty's body was found in her bedroom by her accountant father John, 52, when he went to wake her up for school on the day the punishment was due to be handed out.
The 15-year-old Year 11 pupil was said to have been struggling with her GCSE revision at the time of her death and going through a 'teenage phase'.
This led to the detention for answering her teacher back and putting make-up on during a lesson, an inquest into her death heard.
The deputy headteacher of her school, Ashton-on-Mersey High, in Sale, Greater Manchester, called Elizabeth's mother Helen, a hairdresser, before the teenager had arrived home from classes on March 19.
She asked for Mrs Gresty's permission to keep Elizabeth behind once the following school day had ended.
When keen singer Elizabeth returned home from school she was confronted by Mrs Gresty, 48, over the incident but said she wouldn't be attending the detention, the hearing was told.
She then spent the rest of the evening in her bedroom revising and watching television, as she often did, and last saw her parents briefly in the kitchen at 8pm that night but said nothing.
When Mr Gresty went to wake his daughter up at 7am on the morning of March 20, he discovered she had hanged herself in her bedroom at the family home in Sale, it was said.
Giving evidence at an inquest held at Stockport Coroners Court today, Mrs Gresty said: 'She had just gone through her mock exams. She was struggling a little bit.
'We were trying to help her. She, like many teenage girls, had friends round often and she would spend a lot of time in her room. She would watch TV. Quite often she would have her headphones in and would be dancing or singing around.
'She was doing that at about 6pm on March 19. I was making tea. On the 19th I had received a phone call from the deputy head to say there were a couple of issues in the classroom and she had to have detention on the Friday, the following day. The call was asking whether they could keep her back.
Asked by coroner Joanne Kearsley whether Elizabeth, 15, had ever mentioned harming herself while detailing pressures at school, her mother Helen Gresty (pictured) said 'no'
The body of Elizabeth Gresty (pictured) was found in her bedroom by her accountant father John, 52. A coroner said that she could not be certain Elizabeth had intended to take her own life and recorded an open conclusion
'That incident was answering the teacher back in class. She was told to tie her hair back and flatly refused, then she got her make-up bag out and started putting make-up on so the teacher told her to get out.
'When she got home I spoke to her. She said, "I'm not having no detention, I'm not going". That's what she said. It was a teenage phase she was going through. She had been a little more moody, spending more time in her room recently.'
The popular teenager didn't discuss feelings of stress at school over her GCSEs, but other family members had noticed she might have been feeling a 'bit of pressure', it was said.
Mrs Gresty, who also has a son, added: 'We always encouraged her. She had seemed more stressed of late but she still went out with her friends and had a social life.'
Asked by coroner Joanne Kearsley whether Elizabeth had ever mentioned harming herself while detailing pressures at school, Mrs Gresty said 'no'.
Following her death, Greater Manchester Police conducted an investigation as is standard procedure when looking at deaths of children.
However, they struggled to gather further crucial evidence as to why Elizabeth took drastic action - suggesting it may have been a failed 'cry for help'.
Elizabeth, who attended Ashton-on-Mersey High (pictured), in Sale, Greater Manchester, was said to have been struggling with her GCSE revision
On examination of her bedroom, Detective Inspector Myra Ball came across a diary which contained a number of entries - the last made one month earlier, on February 19.
She said: 'There was nothing after that. But there was on that date an entry where she was not giving an indication she may self-harm but was dissatisfied with life.
'There was no indication of self-harm, it was perhaps a normal teenage entry. There were periods when she was happy, periods talking about love, periods when she is clearly unhappy.
'There are some instances where she is trying to reach out for help but it doesn't detail what help it is she is looking for.'
Elizabeth's mobile phone and computer were also examined but gave no indication of her mind-set and no note was found, Det Insp Ball added.
Many of her school friends were offered bereavement counselling and given the chance to outline any concerns they may have had for Elizabeth, but no one was able to aid the investigation, the inquest heard.
Recording an open conclusion, Miss Kearsley, the coroner, said: 'She had last been seen on the evening before, the 19th, and while there were some difficulties in terms of the fact she might have detention and perhaps reacting to that in the way some teens might, there was nothing over and above that that was causing any concern about her.
'There was nothing in her diary after February 19 and nothing that gave an indication she was intending to end her life.
'It is very difficult to return a conclusion that she took her own life. It is a very high standard of proof. We know she was at home and it might have been a cry for help that has unfortunately gone tragically wrong.
'The conclusion is open. There isn't evidence for me to say she intended to end her life.'
Addressing Mr and Mrs Gresty, she added: 'I can't imagine how difficult it has been for you both. There is nothing from the information that would explain her actions on that particular night, that must have been very difficult.'
After the hearing, Mr Gresty said: 'If she had any issues she would have raised them with us. I don't think she wanted anything read from her diary. I want to respect her privacy.'
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