Coroner blames fashion industry for school girl's suicide

A coroner is suggesting the fashion industry is to blame for the suicide of a school girl who was bullied about her weight

A coroner has blamed the fashion industry for the suicide of a 14 year-old school girl, calling it "directly responsible".

Fiona Geraghty killed herself in July 2011 after developing an eating disorder.

Recording a verdict of death by misadventure, coroner Michael Rose suggested images of skinny models in the media were to blame for the school girl's death but also implicated the internet in his verdict, claiming it has become a Pandora's Box that could not be closed.

The inquest heard Fiona weighed around 60kg and had started making herself sick after meals. Her parents said her bulimia was caused by comments from classmates about her weight.

It emerged that the school girl had written an essay about eating disorders and self-loathing but it was not brought to the attention of her parents, Dr John Geraghty and Dr Elspeth Geraghty.

The coroner accepted that the school, King's College, Taunton, where Fiona had been a pupil since September 2010, had dealt with Fiona properly. Head teacher Richard Biggs said before the inquest that there was no evidence of bullying at the school, putting any disagreements Fiona may have had with classmates down to a "clash of personalities common in girls of that age".

Mr Biggs says he believed the school girl was receiving treatment with the community health team and says eating disorders were a common topic at that time due to the film, Black Swan.

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