06/10/2009

Death Fall Teens Named

The two teenage girls who died when they jumped from a bridge in Scotland in an apparent suicide pact were named last night.

One was Neve Lafferty who was 15. She jumped to her death with Georgia Rowe, who was 14, off the 100ft Erskine Bridge, near Glasgow.

They were reportedly holding hands as they plunged into the River Clyde at the notorious suicide spot on Sunday night.

Both girls were pupils at the Catholic-run Good Shepherd Centre in Bishopton, Renfrewshire.

Pupils there are not supervised around the clock but any outing requires authorisation.

No staff had given the girls permission to leave the building on Sunday evening.

Staff thought the girls, understood to be originally from Hull, in Yorkshire, and Argyll, were in their rooms watching television.

But they apparently sneaked out of the centre shortly before 9pm and made their way to the nearby bridge before jumping to their deaths side-by-side.

The Good Shepherd Centre cares for young girls referred to the centre by local authority educational and psychological services, social work departments and children's hearings.

The girls came to the unit seven to eight weeks ago.

They were seen by staff in their pyjamas going to their rooms to watch television on Sunday evening.

But staff carrying out routine checks noticed they were missing and began a search of the campus and the immediate vicinity.

Shortly afterwards, police called to inform staff of the incident at the Erskine Bridge.

See: Teens Die In Glasgow Bridge Plunge

(BMcC/KMcA)


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