Hannah Fletcher
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A schoolgirl killed herself after developing an obsession with a dark teenage sub-culture known as “emo”, an inquest was told.
Hannah Bond, 13, was found hanging from her bunkbed by her mother, Heather, in September last year in the family’s home in East Peckham, Kent.
It was only after her death that her parents discovered the true nature of the “emo” movement and the extent of Hannah’s involvement. Her online name was Living Disaster.
The term “emo”, short for emotional, originates from the alternative US music scene and refers to teenagers who wear black clothes and dark make-up, and listen to bands with lyrics about death and depression.
Raymond, Hannah’s father, told Maidstone Coroners’ Court: “The supervision of the internet was something I was never in control of. [Hannah] was always very protective of the screen whenever I came in to the room. I now know Hannah was in touch with emos all over the world, particularly in America.”
A few weeks before she died, Hannah’s parents had raised concerns with her about cuts on her wrists. But Hannah told them it was part of an initiation and, Mr Bond said, “she promised she would never do it again”.
Mrs Bond said: “[Hannah] called emo a fashion and I thought it was normal. She could be a bit moody but I thought it was just because she was a teenager . . . There were no signs this was going to happen.”
Recording a verdict of suicide, Roger Sykes, the Mid-Kent and Medway Coroner, said: “[Hannah] had become an aficionado of the emo fad. It is not glamorous, just simply a tragic loss of such a young life.”
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