Virginia Hayton represented Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHSFT and Birmingham & Solihull NHSFT at the inquest into the death of Rhiannon Rudd

Virginia Hayton represented Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHSFT and Birmingham & Solihull NHSFT at the inquest into the death of Rhiannon Rudd, the youngest ever female to be charged with terrorist offences.

The matter was heard by the Chief Coroner of England and Wales HHJ Alexia Durran.

There were no Prevention of Future Death reports issued by the Chief Coroner. 

An inquest into the death of a 16-year-old girl who was groomed before being charged with terrorism offences has found there were missed opportunities to help her by the authorities.

Chief coroner Alexia Durran concluded there were chances for the police and Derbyshire County Council to refer Rhianan Rudd earlier for consideration as a potential victim of modern slavery.

Rhianan became the youngest girl charged with terrorism offences in the UK and was investigated by MI5 after she downloaded a bomb-making manual, but the charges were dropped in 2021 after the Home Office concluded she was a victim of exploitation.

She took her own life at a children's home in May 2022.

At the conclusion of her inquest at Chesterfield Coroner's Court on Monday, Ms Durran said there was arguably a "systems failure" by counter-terror police and the county council, which meant they failed to refer the teenager to the government earlier.

The inquest found no organisation was to blame for her death and Ms Durran found it was "necessary and appropriate" to investigate and prosecute the teenager for terrorism offences.

With thanks to Sadie O'Reilly and Alexzandra Kennedy of Weightmans who worked tirelessly to achieve a result for their clients and also for their instruction on this matter.

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