Girl, 13, found hanged was 'scared to go home from school'

A missing 13-year-old girl who was found hanged was sometimes "concerned" about going home from school, an inquest has heard.

Amber Peat was found sitting in the library, filled with worry, on one occasion after losing the belt from her coat, the hearing was told.

Teacher Joanne Holland described how she had to call the youngster’s mum because she was scared of going home and getting "told off".

During the phone conversation, Mrs Holland assured Amber’s mother: "We will find it," Nottinghamshire Coroner’s Court heard this week.

"She was worried about going home because she had lost the belt off her coat," the teacher told the court, according to the BBC.

"She basically said she was scared she was going to get told off. I had to phone home and tell mum, ‘It really is fine, we will find it’."

The encounter happened at the end of the school day, it was said.

Amber was found hanged in 2015 three days after she went missing from her home, following a row with her mum over household chores.

The court has heard the argument was about cleaning a cool box, which was used to store food on a recent family holiday in Cornwall, where the youngster had hatched plans to run away with her cousin.

Amber’s mother Kelly Peat heard the front door "slam shut" shortly after the dispute at around 5.10pm on May 30, 2015, at the home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, the inquest had been told.

A passer-by saw somebody of Amber’s description enter a hedgerow area near the address around 40 minutes later, it was said.

Up to 400 police staff were involved in the search for the missing youngster, before her body was tragically recovered on June 2.

Speaking at the inquest, Mrs Holland, an ex-form tutor of Amber, described how the schoolgirl often tried to get attention.

The teacher said she felt this could be because the student "didn’t get as much attention at home as would be considered normal".

She recalled the youngster’s "habit" of leaving an item behind after form time, so she could return to the classroom to retrieve it.

She said she liked walking into a room filled with older students.

"Obviously the older students, because she was small and cute, were like, ‘aww, look at Amber’ and she would love that," said Mrs Holland.

The teacher had been Amber’s form tutor at Tibshelf Community School, but the pupil left the school before the end of her first year.

Instead, she moved to Queen Elizabeth School in Mansfield .

Another teacher has told the inquest that she "didn’t want to move".

Before she vanished from her home before her death, the teenager had got into trouble for drinking Cherryade without permission.

She had a history of running away, and Mrs Peat only called police to report her missing at 12.56am on May 31, the inquest has heard.

Detective Constable Tina Gilfoyle, of Nottinghamshire Police, said the mum and Amber’s stepfather, Danny Peat, had been to Tesco and had tea while the youngster was missing.

Providing background of the the teenager’s disappearance, Ms Gilfoyle said the family had moved 11 times in Amber’s lifetime.

The hearing has been told there was no evidence of physical neglect and no sign Amber was malnourished at the time of her death.

Home Office pathologist Frances Hollingbury said there were no traces of alcohol or drugs in her body and no suggestion of a mental illness.

A post-mortem found no evidence to suggest anyone else was involved.

The inquest continues.

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