Student killed herself at Bridgnorth's High Rock after exams disappointment

Harpreet Kaur Hallaith was found at the foot of a beauty spot the day after she was reported missing by her concerned parents.

The 18-year-old Wolverhampton student had disappeared just hours after picking up her A level results.

But her grades of an A and two Bs had not been enough to secure her a place at Durham University, an inquest held at Shirehall, Shrewsbury heard today.

The teenager went missing from her home in the Tinacre Hill, Wolverhampton on August 18 and her body was found at the foot of High Rock, Bridgnorth the following morning.

Mr John Ellery, coroner for Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin heard that she had been a bright and clever teenager who had a wide circle of friends and who excelled academically.

In a statement, read out by coroner's officer Michael Homden, her mother Tersem said her daughter, who was one of three children, had been a happy child and had been part of a wider extended family.

She had achieved an A and nine A* grades at GCSE and had gone on to study A levels in Russian, Latin and History.

But at the start of 2016 she started to get some low moods, said her mother. In February, she had taken too many paracetamols for a headache.

"She seemed stressed and low about her upcoming A levels," said her mother. "We made arrangements for counselling and she said it did help talking things through with someone else."

On August 18 her mother took her to school to collect her exam results. She was disappointed not to have got the grades needed for Durham but received a text from her second choice university, Edinburgh, offering her a place.

But on returning home she seemed upset and went to her room.

Later that day she told her mother she was going for a walk to clear her head. Her mother went out shopping and, on returning, was surprised to find that her daughter was still not home.

She tried her mobile but it went unanswered. She then called the police to report her missing.

Her mother added that she had visited Bridgnorth a number of times with friends and had enjoyed exploring the local area.

Later that evening, police in Bridgnorth were informed that two boys had found the teenager's bag, mobile phone and water bottle along with a letter on High Rock, in the town.

The following day her mother travelled to Bridgnorth to help look for her daughter. She was then told that a body had been found at the foot of High Rock.

PC David Ziola said: "At 10.10am on August 19 a dog handler located a female body that matched her description. She was found at the bottom of a cliff face on the forest floor. I believe she had put herself under pressure to get good exam results. She was disappointed by her results and had aimed for higher grades to get in to Durham University."

Mr Ellery said that she died of multiple injuries and ruled that her death was a suicide. He said: "Harpreet went to the top of High Rock, wrote a letter and then tragically killed herself."