'Wild card' girl dies after being found with injured father

Margaret Pierides, 16, died after being airlifted to hospital from the family's 750,000 home in the village of Sible Hedingham, Essex on Saturday.

Her father, Costas Pierides, 48, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police, who launched a murder investigation, said they were not looking for anyone in connection with the deaths.

The teenager's friends spoke of the rocky relationship she had with her father but said they appeared to have recently "patched things up".

Margaret returned home a "few months ago" after spending time in a hostel in nearby Braintree.

Kika Willings, 18, who went to the village school with Margaret, said: "When she went back home she was so happy. She was proper sorting her life out. She seemed to have patched things up.

"We were best friends. She was so much fun to be around. She was crazy."

Miss Willings' mother, Celestine Adams, 45, described Margaret as a "wild card".

In a tribute addressed to Margaret's mother, Bernadette, Mrs Adams wrote: "Bernadette, please take comfort from the fact that Margaret, the last couple of times we saw her, had a glow, a confidence and was looking gorgeous.

"She loved you and her brothers and sisters.

"Margaret was a lovely girl, a wild card – a little troubled but a lovely girl."

Friends said Margaret had "gone off the rails" during her final year in school and had several fall outs with her father.

But they said the family, including Margaret's four siblings, had recently enjoyed a holiday together in Greece and everything appeared "perfect".

Mrs Adams, a mother of seven, said: "When she moved back home her life was perfect. She loved it at home.

"She was so glad to be with her brothers and sisters."

Margaret had started a college course as a beautician days before her death.