BRAINTREE: Friends' tribute to tragic Rebecca

By jperfect

SERIOUS questions are set to be asked after a 16-year-old girl under the care of Essex social services was found hanged.

Rebecca Watkins is believed to have committed suicide while in care at a house in Brandon, Suffolk, 50 miles away from her family home in Braintree.

Her case is expected to come under scrutiny at Essex County Hall today (Thursday).

Grief-stricken friends of Rebecca gathered outside County Hall in Chelmsford on Sunday to lay memorials to their young friend.

The group of teenagers tearfully hugged and tried to comfort one another as they lay flowers and pictures alongside a candle in tribute to their friend.

Tasha Xavier, 16, from Witham said: "We still can't believe that we will never see her again. I think it was everything in her life put together that made her do it and she had just had enough."

But the friends gathered to pay tribute say they don't feel social services were in any way responsible for the tragic death of their friend.

Iona Cameron, 16, from Chelmsford, said: "Social services did absolutely everything they could to make the situation better."

Tasha added: "She was happier where she was than where she had been before that."

One tribute read: "I have never known anyone who was as strong as you, after everything you had been through you still had a smile on your face! Love Charlotte."

Labour county councillor Julie Young has expressed concerns about placing children in care a long way from home since she joined the council in 2001.

"It is very difficult for a social worker to monitor their case load if they are dotted around the country," she said.

"Obviously I am very shocked that a vulnerable young person has been located in a home which is a considerable distance from her family and friends, which might have contributed to her distress."

Cllr Young will take the case to the council's Children & Young People Policy and Scrutiny Committee today (Thursday).

"Safeguarding children is a priority area for Essex to get right," said Cllr Young. "The administration say they have recruited something like 100 new social workers – then you have this young woman that has apparently killed herself. It is tragic."

But a friend has claimed her difficult life was made harder by the treatment she received from Essex County Council social services, who were earlier this year rated as "inadequate" at safeguarding children, as exposed in the Chronicle.

Friend Charlotte Byatt, who used to go out with Rebecca's brother Daniel, said: "She went from foster home to foster home and put up with a lot."

She wrote on a Facebook tribute page to the tragic teen: "I always used to take her to the shop and treat her to some fatty food, and even got her some new clothes and boots that she lived in.

"She treasured every little thing she has, but the poor soul couldn't take much more."

Emergency services were called to a house in Brandon, north Suffolk, late on Tuesday June 16 but despite desperate attempts to save her, the teenager died in hospital the following day.

Rebecca lived in Bennett Close, Braintree, until she went into care, and attended Notley High School in the town for four years, leaving at the end of Year 10 when she joined Brentwood County High.

She was a keen singer, and came third in a Notley High X Factor competition last year singing her own composition.

Head teacher at Notley High, Simon Thompson, said her death had been a great shock for the whole community.

"Rebecca was a positive influence in many ways within the school, regularly volunteering to help out.

"We will remember Rebecca as a young person who, despite having some real challenges in her life, was able to have many more good days than bad ones and we know from the sentiments she expressed upon leaving that Notley had been a safe, secure and happy place for her.

"The news of her death has been a great shock for the school and we send our deepest condolences to her family and friends at this difficult time."

A county council spokesperson said: "It is with great sadness that Essex County Council confirms a young person in the care of the local authority died on Tuesday 16 June.

"This young person was in voluntary care with the agreement of her family.

"Essex County Council is supporting and working with partner agencies with their enquiries into this tragic loss of life."

An inquest into the teen's death has been opened and adjourned.