The body of an eighteen year old girl was discovered at the bottom of a cliff on August 19th 2016 by police. Harpreet Kaur Hallaith, 18, is believed to have jumped to her death over disappointment at her A-level results.
The teenager was studying at Wolverhampton Girls’ High School and was hoping for two A* grades and one A in order to secure a place at her first choice of University, Durham, where she was to study Russian and History.
However on results day, she learned via email that she had achieved one A and two B’s, and as such would have to attend her second university of choice. It is at this point that Harpreet left the house, “stressed.” Harpreet then told her family that she was going for a walk at 2.30pm. When she didn’t return hours later, she was reported missing.
At the inquest, PC David Ziola, from West Mercia Police, said:
‘Harpreet was a high achieving female who attended Wolverhampton Girls’ High School. She had recently received her A-Level results. Police were called after Jamie Wood and Tom Vaughan located a black jacket, a mobile phone and a letter on the top of a cliff. The letter indicated an intention to potentially take her own life. Searches were ongoing through the evening.
‘At 10.10am on October 19 a dog handler located a female body which matched Harpreet’s description. Officers could not find a pulse on the body. The body was located at the bottom of the cliff face. There were graze marks visible on the limbs. At 1.12pm the body was pronounced dead by a doctor. Harpreet had put herself under a lot of pressure to get good A-Level results. She confirmed to her best friend via text message that she was disappointed by her results.’
Her mother, Mrs. Hallaith, a social worker said:
‘Harpreet seemed a bit stressed and low about her coursework and upcoming A-Levels. On August 18 it was the day of Harpreet’s A-Level results and I took her to the school. When she got her results she achieved one A and two Bs.
‘Durham required two A*s and an A. Harpreet was understandably disappointed. She received an email from Edinburgh saying she had been accepted for the course. Harpreet was upset at the results and we talked about it for a while and she was relieved to have been offered her second choice.
‘Harpreet decided to go to her room for a while, we all kept checking on her. At around 2.30pm Harpreet said she was going out for a walk. She had only been gone a matter of 10 minutes when she returned.
‘She said she had forgotten her phone and she also need some change. After 15 minutes I heard her go again.Later I decided to call her on her phone and it went to voicemail. As time went on I became more concerned where she was.
‘After a while it started to go straight to voicemail. Concerned, I contacted police to report her missing. Some of her belongings had been found in Bridgnorth. Upon thinking about it I made the connection that she liked to go to the area. This was a spot she liked to visit to think about things.
‘The following day I made my way to Bridgnorth to help with the search. A police officer arrived at the car park, he informed me that a body had been found. I can’t think what Harpreet was thinking that day but I can’t think she really intended to take her own life.’
