A Yorkshire mother says her 14-year-old daughter ended her life after four years of "relentless" bullying and is campaigning for it to be criminalised.

Courtney Lee, 34, said her daughter, Willow Lee - who went by Ollie - had been bullied every day since she started year seven in September 2021.

She said Ollie would have bottles thrown at her, she was beaten up and constantly mocked online and in person.

On October 6, 2024, Courtney went in to check on Ollie and found her unresponsive in her room.

placeholder image — Courtney Lee and Ollie Lee.

An ambulance was called, and Ollie was blue-lighted to the hospital, but doctors were unable to save her life.

During an inquest into Ollie's death at Sheffield Medico-Legal Centre, the coroner found that she died following "poor communications" between agencies and "missed opportunities" for mental health support.

Now, Courtney is calling for repeated bullying over the age of 10 to be a criminal offence, and to make it a legal requirement for schools to act on all forms of bullying.

Courtney, currently unemployed, from Barnsley, said: "The moment I saw Ollie, I was screaming. Her eyes were open, her lips were blue. I held her in my arms, and I was just rocking backwards and forwards with her.

The family of Willow Lee - who went by Ollie - have been petitioning for new anti-bullying laws after the Barnsley teenager died in October 2024.

"She was gone, she was cold. We were broke, we were completely, utterly broke. There were no words to describe our emotions."

Since starting high school in 2021, Courtney said the bullying Ollie faced was "relentless".

She said: "It wasn't just words. She was beaten up, and rumours were spread about her. She had gone on a school trip to Harry Potter World, and bottles were thrown at her.

"Ollie was autistic and struggling with her identity. She was a happy, bright child. Ollie would even show kindness to the bullies."

As well as the in-person bullying, Ollie was bullied through social media. Courtney said she was "constantly tormented" and couldn't escape the bullies.

She said, during several occasions, Ollie was pelted with hard sweets, sprayed with deodorant and dragged over grass.

Courtney said: "It was through social media too - TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, Discord.

"She was being tormented on there, being told to kill herself, being made fun of about her appearance. Ollie was receiving those comments inside school and outside - it was relentless."

On October 6, 2024, Ollie came home from her friend's house, and Courtney, her ex-husband, and Ollie made pizza bread.

At 9.30pm, Ollie gave her phone to her mum and said goodnight.

Courtney said: "Ollie had a beautiful evening, we did some baking, made pizza bread, and we had a laugh. She did some gaming on her Switch and spoke to her best friend.

"I had asked her to bring her phone to me that night. I got kisses and we said 'I love you'."

At around 1am, Courtney was heading to bed and wanted to check on Ollie. She noticed that Ollie wasn't in her bed, so she went into her room and found her unresponsive.

Courtney's ex-husband called 999, and Ollie was rushed to Barnley Hospital and sadly pronounced dead at 2:20am.

Courtney said: "Ollie was such a unique child; she walked into a room and would light it up. She touched the lives of so many people. They would look at her and see the energy she gave off.

"Ollie would help anyone. She was very aesthetic. Ollie was the best child anyone could ask for."

During an inquest into Ollie's death, which concluded on May 8, the coroner found that Ollie, who endured years of bullying at school, died following "poor communications" between agencies and "missed opportunities" for mental health support.

The inquest heard that Ollie was put on the waiting list for psychiatric intervention; however, due to "poor communication" between agencies, she was discharged.

It was also revealed that a CAMHS risk assessment subsequently concluded Ollie was "low risk" and she was discharged in July 2024.

"I am happy with the result from the inquest," Courtney said. "Despite everything contained within records, reports, assessments and statements given at the inquest over the last three days, I ask that Ollie is remembered first and foremost as a human being.

"She was not just a human being, she was not just a mental health patient or a safeguarding concern or even a collection of agency notes. She was my daughter, a friend, a person with dreams, humour, intelligence, sensitivity and had an enormous amount of emotional depth. She was incredible."

Since Ollie's death, Courtney had made it her mission to stop bullying and make repeated bullying over the age of 10 a specific criminal offence.

She also wants it to become a legal requirement for schools to act on all forms of bullying inside and out of school, and mandate mental health reviews after bullying-related self-harm.

Courtney said: "Bullying in the UK is not a criminal offence, but it needs to be. Too many people are taking their own lives and are experiencing bullying.

"The bullies do not face accountability. If we could make bullying a criminal offence, we could change a lot. The law needs to change; new reports are coming out all of the time about children taking their lives due to bullying.

"I want bullying to stop. This is not just for Ollie; this is for every child being bullied."

South West Yorkshire Partnership Teaching NHS Foundation Trust said: "We would like to offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Ollie Lee, and all those who knew her.

"Providing safe services for all patients in our care is our top priority. We will carefully consider the comments from the coroner and will work closely with our partners to bring about any multi-agency improvements needed."