Parents of girl who took her own life sue school over years of bullying

Lauren Lelonek endured three physical attacks and sustained threats over social media before her death

Parents said their daughter was a ‘kind, honest, caring and loving girl with a big heart’ (Facebook)

The parents of a teenage girl who took her own life following years of bullying have launched legal action against her school and the police.

Lauren Lelonek, 16, died at home in 2016 after suffering a “sustained campaign of bullying”, including three physical attacks and threats over social media.

In a claim submitted to the High Court, her parents accused their daughter’s school of failing to take “reasonable steps to protect Lauren from bullying” and claim the police did not properly investigate the abuse she experienced at the hands of older pupils.

Her parents, Sarah and Ian Lelonek, described their daughter as a “kind, honest, caring and loving girl with a big heart” who “always put others before herself”.

“She was planning on going to college and training in hair and beauty. But all of that, all of her future, was lost following a sustained campaign of bullying at her school,” they said. “We feel Lauren was badly let down by her school, who had a responsibility to keep her safe, and the police who should have been there to step in when things became so serious.”

The bullying began when Lauren started attending the University of Chester Academy in Northwich, now called Rudheath Senior Academy and controlled by North West Academies Trust. The claim states the bullying worsened after September 2015 when the family reported an incident to Cheshire Police and the young girl was labelled a “grass”.

During the assault in October 2015, Lauren was pinned against a fence by her throat and dragged to the floor by her hair, then booted as she lay on the ground. Following their report to the police, her mother said that the bullies would wait outside the school and make threats to her daughter.

The teenager subsequently withdrew her first complaint, but she and a friend were attacked again in December 2015 and made the subjects of a Facebook post stating “snitches get stitches”.

The third attack in February 2016 saw Lauren lose clumps of hair, but the school told police they were “happy to deal with the incident in-house”, according to legal papers seen by the Daily Mail.

She later messaged a friend saying “I can’t even remember the last time I was actually happy”, and “[I] just don’t know if I can carry on anymore”.

Following Lauren’s death in 2017, two girls aged 17 and 18 were convicted of harassing Lauren and another girl for six months in the lead-up to her suicide. They were given community punishments in court.

Yvonne Kestler, a solicitor at the law firm Leigh Day who represents the Lelonek family, said: “Sarah and Ian Lelonek believe that Lauren’s school breached their duties by failing to protect her from severe bullying by other students and that the police failed to properly investigate serious allegations in breach of the Human Rights Act.

“The family hope that the school and police have learned lessons from what happened to Lauren to ensure that they take action that will make a difference and help victims of bullying to know that the bodies that are there to protect them will do just that.”

A Cheshire Police spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain with Lauren’s family and all those who knew and loved her.”

North West Academies Trust has been approached for comment.