The court heard the 17-year-old had a history of severe mental health problems, including psychosis, with her friends and staff at her care home recalling her saying she was “hearing voices” on the night she took her own life.
The NT coroner has heard details of the final moments of a 17-year-old girl's life before police kicked down the door to her bedroom in 2022, with witnesses testifying that she had been "hearing voices" earlier in the night.
Over five days of often emotional hearings, she examined the actions of child protection services, health workers and police before Didbala's death.The girl’s mother told Judge Armitage her daughter was a “kind-hearted” person who was “never boring” and who loved her friends and hip hop, as well as fishing and hunting with her family on country.
The inquest heard forensic analysis of the lock had failed to produce a clear explanation of why it would not budge, but Judge Armitage said it appeared “likely” that Didbala had tampered with the lock. At one point, when Didbala was discharged from an inpatient stay in Darwin, the coroner heard it took five days for Territory Families to become aware she had left the hospital.
The workers were not aware of Didbala's history of threatening suicide by the time police arrived on the night she died. A treating psychologist for Didbala told the inquest her aunt and uncle, who the teenager would often leave her care home to visit, were highly invested and took great interest in her health.
Coroner Inquest Death Suicide Territory Families Child Protection Katherine Nt Northern Territory
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