Two teenage girls who plunged to their deaths from the 11th floor of a Southend tower block killed themselves, a coroner ruled today.
Lisa Utton, 18, of Lesney Gardens, Rochford, and Danielle Waddington, 16, of Castledon Road, Wickford, jumped 120ft from Cecil Court in Jones Close in the early hours of November 16.
An inquest into their deaths heard the girls had both left text messages on Lisa's phone for their families indicating they were going to commit suicide.
Both had a history of harming themselves and had tried to commit suicide on previous occasions, the hearing at Southend Coroner's Court was told.
Coroner Dr Peter Dean, recording a suicide verdict, said: "There was no other verdict I could have recorded than that they took their own lives."
Dr Dean would not go into details about the content of the text messages, but revealed the messages said both girls loved their families very much.
The police investigation was able to rule out foul play through forensic evidence and from witnesses.
It was also determined the girls could not have fallen from the window accidentally.
Toxicology reports have revealed neither girl had taken any drugs, legal or illegal, and the amount of alcohol in their blood was ""moderate".
Published Thursday March 4, 2004
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