Scottish Catholic Observer

An inquiry into the deaths of two teenage girls who committed suicide by  jumping off the Erskine bridge after running after from an open unit has found the tragedy could have been avoided.

Niamh Lafferty, 15, and Georgia Rowe, 14, died after jumping more than 100ft from the Erskine Bridge on October 4, 2009, in an apparent suicide pact. They were both residents at a unit for vulnerable girls between the ages of 12 and 18, called the Good Shepherd Care Centre’s open unit in Bishopton, Renfrewshire. The open unit, which has closed, was run by the Cora Foundation under the auspices of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.

Sheriff Ruth Anderson conducted the inquiry at Paisley Sheriff Court over several. It heard evidence from social workers from Argyll and Bute Social Work Department, who were responsible for Niamh’s care, and from workers from Hull City Council, who had charge of Georgia’s care. It also heard evidence from staff at the Good Shepherd open unit and from the Care Inspectorate.

The findings of the inquiry, released yesterday, noted that the deaths ‘may have been avoided’ had ‘reasonable precautions’ been taken.

Although the Bishopton Good Shepherd open unit has since closed a secure unit is still run by Cora Foundation in the area. The board of managers of Good Shepherd secure unit released a statement saying the event had been a profound tragedy.

“What happened on October 4, 2009, was the saddest and most traumatic event in the history of the Good Shepherd open unit and was a significant factor in the eventual closure of that unit and redundancy of the staff in June 2010,” the statement said. “No one who worked with Georgia and Niamh was unaffected by this tragedy which was utterly unprecedented, both in the professional lives of staff and in the history of the institution. The impossibility of predicting such an event emerged in the evidence, but at the same time, weaknesses in the handling of the girls’ circumstances were identified, for which the board expresses its profound sorrow.”