Parents are found hanged after daughter's death

The parents of a schoolgirl found choked to death on her tie after being told to tidy her room were yesterday discovered hanged in their home.

Michelle Henry, 12, died two months ago after looping a blue silk tie round her neck and fixing the other end to the bedroom door handle.

Her parents Barbara, 38, and Michael, 37, had battled to come to terms with the tragedy.

But yesterday Michelle's uncle, Derek Francis, - who originally found the young girl dead in her room - returned from a night shift to the home he shared with the family in Montpelier, Bristol, to discover his sister Barbara and Michael hanging from the staircase.

Last November, Mr Francis, a 34-year-old hotel cleaner, had found Michelle's body behind her bedroom door, the morning after he had scolded his niece for having an untidy room.

Mr Francis told an inquest into her death: "When I came back in the morning, Michelle's bedroom door was closed but the light was still on.

"I had words with her the night before about her room being untidy and I did not want to trouble her, so I went downstairs to make myself a drink.

"Later on I knocked on the door two or three times and there was no reply. I pushed my way into the room and saw Michelle lying on the floor.

"I thought she had passed out or was sick. But then I noticed the tie had been knotted around the door handle and I realised she was dead."

His sister, a worker at a homeless project, had broken down after the inquest hearing.

"We are desperately trying to come to terms with her tragic death - but I don't know how," Mrs Henry said.

"She was a very happy and sensible girl and I just cannot see her killing herself.

"We used to tell her off quite a lot for being untidy and she would be a bit grumpy for a while but it would never last."

Yesterday, grieving relatives gathered at the family's three-bedroom terraced house.

Mrs Henry's cousin, Vida Tucker, 54, said: "We are a very close-knit family.

"Michelle's death hit us all very hard. Her parents never got over her death and clearly they just couldn't handle it any more."

She added: "I saw them a few days ago and although they were smiling, under the surface they were both completely shattered.

"It takes time to come to terms with a tragedy like Michelle's death and I knew they could never forget it."

Mrs Henry's father, Granville, said: "I just can't believe what has happened. There was never any sign that they would do anything like this.

"They were very close to Michelle but they obviously couldn't come to terms with what happened."

"I can't believe this is happening," he added.

The Avon coroner, Paul Forrest, recorded a verdict of accidental death at the inquest into Michelle's death last November.

He said at the hearing: "I have severe doubts about recording a verdict of suicide because a 12-year-old child is too young to be considered capable of planning to take her own life.

"It is more likely that Michelle's death was a result of an accident."