Britain shaken by death of 12-year-old in Dorset: bullying suspected

Britain has been gripped by sadness following the death of 12-year-old Angel Carranza, who was found unresponsive on March 17 in her bedroom at the family home in Poole, Dorset.

Her family remember Angel as a “model student”, while the investigation raised concerns that she had been struggling to adjust to her new school. Friends told authorities that the girl was having problems integrating socially, and one of them said Angel had been bullied by a group of girls.

Shortly before her death, the 12-year-old told a friend that she “would rather be in hell than at school”.

Giving evidence at the inquest conducted by the coroner in Bournemouth, her father, Eliud Matidi, said that Angel had gradually withdrawn from her family and social circle. He said she had been spending increasingly more time on her phone, watching videos on YouTube and playing Minecraft.

Her father said that on the morning of March 17, he had tried three times to wake her up for school, but received no response.

The girl’s body was discovered at around 7:30 a.m. An examination of her phone showed that Angel had been communicating via Snapchat until approximately 5:00 a.m. that same day.

However, an examination of her phone and tablet found no evidence of cyberbullying or searches related to suicide. According to the inquest evidence, she had not left a note and had not expressed any such intention to her friends.

Eliud Matidi said that the transition from primary school to Cornerstone Academy in Hamworthy had been a particularly difficult period for his daughter.

“It was a much larger school and she was very reluctant to go. She missed many lessons and her academic performance was affected,” he said. However, her father added that he had thought the situation was improving, as Angel’s attendance had increased and she had made a new circle of friends.

He described the girl as the “light” of the family and recalled that at primary school she had been an exemplary, kind student with no disciplinary problems.

Dorset coroner Brendan Allen determined that the 12-year-old had died as a result of hanging, but stressed that “her intention was not explained by the evidence presented”.