Young mum who was bullied died after failing to receive the care she needed

A young mother who was admitted to hospital on 17 occasions in 12 months with suicidal ideations and deliberate overdoses had been cyber bullied at school, an inquest into her death heard. Kierah Leigh Talling had enjoyed a happy upbringing but after her family settled in the St Austell area, her mental health started declining when she became the victim of cyberbullying at school.

The 23-year-old started self-harming at the age of 14 and ran away from home at the age of 16. The hearing into her death held in Truro today (Monday, March 24) heard that after the birth of her first child at 17, her mental health stabilised for a while as she settled into a home life with her partner in supported housing.

Keirah had her second child at 19 and moved with her children's father into a council house where they tried to have a normal life together as young parents.

In a statement read out in court, Kierah's stepbrother Jamie Ashton said that at first, home life and motherhood really helped to improve her mental health. However, it took a turn for the worse following the birth of her second child. When the relationship ended and she tried to be a single parent, it proved too much for Kierah.

New relationships followed and had a positive impact on her mental health at first, but soon her mental health declined again. The inquest was told that in 2022, her ex-partner took custody of their children so Kierah could focus on getting better. She found a job as a chef and was happy for a while which again led to improvements in her mental health.

But at the end of that year Kierah's mental health declined. She was diagnosed with complex PTSD and emotional unstable personality disorder. In 2023 Kierah ran away from home on at least seven occasions which Jamie said had been cries for help.

Get breaking crime updates and news from the courts straight to your inbox

It was that year that Kierah attempted to take her own life for the first time. She was sectioned under the Mental Health Act by Devon and Cornwall Police on 17 occasions over the following 12 months between June 2023 and June 2024.

She was either taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske in Truro or was taken to a place of safety at the West Cornwall Women's Aid refuge or the Longreach mental health unit in Camborne.

Kierah had been a resident at the refuge at the time of her death on June 21 last year, having fled violence and domestic abuse, when she was discovered lifeless in a wooded area around Gulval near Penzance.

Jemma Carter, the manager of the WCWaid refuge told the inquest that the refuge provides a place of safety for women and children fleeing abuse and domestic violence. She said: "There were some positive episodes. She enjoyed skateboarding while she was with us and meeting new friends. She went to the Porthleven Food Festival. She told us that she felt safe here. But her mental health remained unstable while she was with us."

Ms Carter said there is limited accommodation in Cornwall for people like Kierah who have complex mental health needs and challenges. She told the inquest that there were questions about whether the refuge was the right place for Kierah but said that the alternative would have been to see Kierah go back to temporary accommodation or young people accommodation when there are not many available in Cornwall.

She said: "We were trying to hold Kierah but in terms of the refuge being the right place, I'm not sure that it met all her needs as we thought."

Senior coroner for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Andrew Cox said 25,000 people are on the housing waiting list in the county and 900 people were added in January alone. It was heard that Cornwall Council only provides accommodation to 1,000 people a year.

The hearing also heard that patients like Kierah who have complex mental health needs do not tend to be kept in hospital under the Mental Health Act for too long because hospital admissions tend to make things worse. A member of the Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust told the inquest that these should be for short crisis admission and community home treatment is the preferred way to deal with people's issues.

The trust said Kierah had received a good level of care and engaged well while she was being looked after by the home treatment team.

Concluding in a suicide, Mr Cox said Kierah had a long history of mental health difficulties going back to instances of bullying in secondary school as well as reports of abuse and violence at the hands of past boyfriends which led to her being removed from her usual home address in the St Austell area.

He said that as a result Kierah had been staying at a women's refuge in West Cornwall to get her away from that environment. However Mr Cox said questions had been raised about whether the refuge had been the right place to deal with her complex mental health needs when her support group was in St Austell.

He said: "There is a real problem in Cornwall with the provision of secure accommodation for vulnerable women. It is not a new problem but has been a concern for many years. The refuge was an option as it removed Kierah from the violence and abuse but it was not ideal. The refuge recognised they were doing their best to support her but they are not set up to provide significant mental health help to those with that kind of need."

Mr Cox added: "What Kierah required was lengthy support in a community setting, ideally with a supportive environment from her family and friends and stable accommodation. Kierah had a lot of input from different levels of mental health support but she needed to be treated in the community setting, not in hospital.

"Kierah was far too young to be suffering these difficulties and end up in the situation that played out in June last year."

He said no one else had been involved, and it had been Kierah's clear and deliberate intent to take her own life, and as a result, he concluded that she died from her own actions.

After the hearing, a spokesperson from Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said: "We extend our sincere sympathies to the family and loved ones of Kierah Talling at this very difficult time. Despite facing complex difficulties, Kierah had always engaged with our community mental health teams who did all they could to support her while she was under their care."

⚠️ Want the latest Cornwall breaking news and top stories first? Click here to join CornwallLive on WhatsAppand we'll send breaking news and top stories directly to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice⚠️