Care unit blamed as staffing levels fail to prevent deaths

Niamh Lafferty, 15, and Georgia Rowe, 14, originally from Hull, fell from the Erskine Bridge into the River Clyde in October 2009.

Both girls had been residents of the now-demolished Good Shepherd Centre open unit in Bishopton, Renfrewshire.

A written determination by Sheriff Ruth Anderson said the deaths may have been avoided had two “reasonable” precautions been taken – having at least four members of staff on duty at the centre’s open unit on October 4 2009, and placing the two girls on the first floor rather than in the self-contained ground-floor flat “directly opposite an unalarmed fire exit door”.

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

The inquiry heard that Niamh, from Helensburgh, Argyll, was disturbed by the death of her boyfriend eight months before following an apparent drugs overdose. She had tried to take her own life twice in the following months.

Concerns were raised about Georgia’s mental health five years before she died, when she told social workers she was going to kill herself. Georgia, born in Hull, had been raised in Ayrshire by her maternal aunt.

She had been removed from her foster home with her aunt, when her behaviour became too challenging and finally moved to Hull.

A placement with foster carers broke down and she was placed in Merlin Bridge children’s home in September 2008. But she was reported missing form the home 11 times in a month, on one occasion ending up in hospital after taking ecstasy tablets.

The inquiry heard that despite all their troubles, both girls were said to have spent a happy weekend with relatives before they died.