A TEENAGE girl was so determined to die that she marked the date on her kitchen calendar and left numerous notes asking those left behind not to be sad.

Alicia Sidebotham, aged 19, was found hanged in woods at Over Hulton by a walker on the morning of January 7.

An inquest in Bolton heard how Alicia had been treated for mental health problems since the age of 14 and had tried to take her own life several times before.

Described as “strong willed”, she gave no indication to friends and family she was intending to kill herself, spending the day before she was found working at the WH Smith store in Wigan.

“She seemed to be enjoying herself with her friends. Generally she was coping,” said acting senior coroner Alan Walsh.

But Alicia, who was described a popular and intelligent, taking an open university degree course in psychology, was hiding a firmly held belief that there was no point in living as she was going to die eventually anyway.

Recording a conclusion that Alicia’s death was suicide, Mr Walsh stressed that neither the mental health services or her supportive family and friends could have prevented her death.

“Sadly, it was what was in her mind and how she rationalised her life. I believe she thought ‘I’m going to die anyway in the future, why do I go through my life to wait to die?’,” said Mr Walsh.

“She had everything to live for — 19, attractive personality, attractive young lady, someone who was popular and someone who had a good, caring family.

“She couldn’t have had more opportunity in life but something in her mind told her that there was no point in continuing to live her life to the end.

“I have never seen notes written in that way before — for the notes to be articulate and clear and caring in the way she exonerates everybody else from responsibility. She doesn’t want them to feel sad for her, she wants them to feel pleased she had done what she wanted to do.”

The inquest heard that Alicia, of Hatton Avenue, Atherton, had a normal, happy childhood until the age of 14 when she began self harming which escalated until she attempted to take her own life with a paracetamol overdose in January 2017.

Her mother refused to take her home from hospital until she had seen a psychiatrist , who decided she should be sectioned and admitted to mental health units. She remained there for nine months before being discharged from inpatient care and eventually moving into her own flat in Atherton.

The inquest heard how she appeared to be coping successfully but her mother, Andrea Sidebotham, told the court that she suspected her daughter was still planning to end her life. “I always knew this was at the back of her head,” she said.

The inquest heard how she appeared her usual self when she went to work on January 6, but the next day her body was found at 8.15am by walker Trevor Wallis in a wooded area behind houses on Broadway, Atherton.

She had drunk alcohol and taken medication an cocaine, but not enough to alter her thinking and in her tidy flat police found a number of notes and a calendar marked with the January 7 date.

In November last year North West Boroughs mental health team discharged her from their care without holding a meeting about it with Alicia or social services being aware that she had been discharged.

Mr Walsh stated that this would not have prevented her death, but he was critical of the situation and the healthcare trust has now agreed to write the need for such a meeting into their policies.

Alicia’s mother welcomed the move.

“With our Alicia it didn’t contribute to her her death, but for someone else it could massively contribute,” she said.

Samaritans is available round the clock, every single day of the year, providing a safe place to talk for anyone who is struggling to cope.

Call 116 123 (this number is free to call and will not appear on your phone bill), 01204 521200 or email jo@samaritans.org