A TEENAGE girl who never got over the death of her grandmother killed herself after feeling "second best", an inquest heard.

Harriet Walsh, aged 17, was found hanged at her home in Belmont by her mother after telling her she was staying in with her boyfriend.

The hearing, in Blackburn, was told Harriet, a student at Myerscough College in Preston, had been upset at the death of her grandmother from cancer in September 2013.

She wrote a number of diary entries and Facebook messages expressing that she had "had enough" and that she was missing her grandmother.

She began self harming and took an overdose of paracetamol and ibuprofen in August 2014.

At the end of 2014 she met boyfriend Carl Cunliffe and he moved into the family home, but she felt "second best" to him. She also believed her mother paid more attention to her elder sister Emily and her boyfriend, Nick.

She was counselled by mental health experts and she kept a diary which included an entry on November 11, 2014, stating: “I honestly do not think I can do this anymore. Everything is getting out hand. It is safe to say I have the worst family.

"Since Nan has been gone I cannot cope any longer. I need to end it all right now. If only I had the guts.”

Her mother, Claire Robinson, said: “She said she had had enough. That she was missing her Nan and she loved me, her grandad and her family but she could not cope with life anymore.”

She added that she noticed she had been self-harming, saying: “She obviously kept it hidden from me for quite a while.

"I asked why she was doing it and she said she didn’t know.

"She would say ‘I do not know and I am sorry.’"

The hearing was also told she was suffering with low self-esteem after claiming she was mocked over her hair colour as well as her weight and feared she had a ''bad image''.

Mrs Robinson said her daughter "became very angry" and explained she would she would get angry if someone let her down or said "no" to her — "something very simple would set her off".

She added: “Her bullying related to her hair colour. People used to say she was fat and ugly. The usual.

"She had lost a bit of weight. It probably stems from there.

"But if you look at TV and magazines they (the people featured) are all thin.

"She was told her hair was messy and she would slam her bedroom door and redo her hair. That was just the way she was.”

On the night of her death on April 17, Harriet had an argument with Carl because he wanted to spend time with a couple of friends before coming round to spend the evening with her.

She told her mother she was planning to spend the evening with Carl while her mother, her elder sister Emily and boyfriend Nick went out for dinner.

But although she initially replied to text messages from her mother, Mrs Robinson got no response as she was heading home and arrived to find the back door bolted and Harriet’s bedroom light on.

A neighbour helped her break down the door and they found Harriet inside. She was pronounced dead at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

Carl told the inquest: “She seemed quite happy but did not really show much emotion. She didn’t talk to me much. She would shut me out.

"We did have our ups and downs. I saw her every weekend. I wanted to go to see a couple friends before I went to see her.

''She said she felt second best with her mum and me, and had got to a point where she said ‘do not speak to me’.

"She split up with me that night. Then later on that night, because my phone died, I went home and saw a message that said ‘I love you sorry’.

"I thought this was her trying to sort things out. I replied something similar. Then I woke up to the news.

''She felt all the attention moved to Emily and she was getting none at all.”

Nadia Coggin, a mental health practitioner at the Royal Bolton Hospital said: “Harriet spoke about losing her Nan and that it was very sudden, although her mum had explained she had cancer.

"Her mum also revealed that she found a picture of Nan ripped up and the front smashed. She went on to say she was really angry.”

Coroner Michael Singleton recorded a verdict of suicide saying: “It seems to me that at that moment Harriet intended by her act to bring about her own death.

"There is nothing I can say that can go any way in terms of what happened. I offer my sympathies to all of you.”