Georgia Gallaway, Falmouth inquest verdict

Georgia Gallaway was found dead by her stepfather Lee Alway outside their home in Oakfield Road, Falmouth in the early hours of July 6 last year, an inquest held in Truro heard this week.

Miss Gallaway had returned from a night out with a friend, upset that she had been snubbed by another girl she thought she got on with.

Georgia Gallaway was in a happy mood before she died. Picture SWNS

Assistant coroner Stephen Cavell was told that the evening before Georgia's death had started off in very positive way. She was in the back garden with a close friend Madi Clegg having cocktails together and looking forward to evening out and looking forward to seeing friends.

Georgia had low moods before she died. Picture SWNS

At 9.30pm they left and went to Wetherspoons in Falmouth and had cocktails and then went onto The Shed and had further cocktails.

Later on in the evening they decided to go and pick up Georgia's car and drove to the Point at Falmouth where they smoked.

They saw some other girls they knew there but Georgia was rebuffed by one of the girls she considered a friend when she asked if she could come over to their car.

This upset her and her mood changed. They drove to Swanpool Beach but by this time Georgia was very quiet and sat in silence. She suddenly had a plan to retrieve belongings from ex-boyfriend Dylan and initially had a row with Madi about using her mobile because her own number had been been blocked between her and Dylan.

There was then an exchange of texts and calls at the end of which Dylan said he didn't want to have a late night exchange of belongings and to make make arrangements some other time. She then wouldn't talk with her friend who was trying to lighten the mood.

Georgia was found by her stepfather. Picture SWNS

When they got to Georgia's house, she gave Madi a hug and said she loved her. Madi saw her go into into the grounds of the house and she returned home. She got a text from Georgia at 1.30am saying 'I love you. Thank you for everything'.

At 1.24am her step father Lee received a text message from Georgia saying 'Cheers for locking me out' but he didn't notice it until he got up at 5.50am to take the dogs for a walk.

He went downstairs at 6am opened the back door, looked to the right and saw Georgia. The emergency services were called but nothing could be done.

The inquest was told that Georgia had attempted to take her own life on two previous occasions. She had a fragile personality, lacked confidence and needed support and reassurance from those around her and this was provided by her family and close friends. She could be deeply affected by perceived rejection by those around her, such as the failure of a relationship or those on the periphery of her friendship group who were not able to indicate that they liked her.

Any confrontation caused her anxiety, she was struggling at college and a relationship with her boyfriend Dylan had come to an end, someone she deeply cared about. It played a significant part in her mood the months before she died.

Her moods were more accentuated when she took alcohol and drugs. The inquest heard she had taken overdoses in 2018 and Feb 2020.

In 2020 she had gone to sleep and not told anyone what she was doing. Her mum Sophie Alway said this was a serious intention to take her own life not a cry for help, even though she survived.

Georgia was assessed by the psychiatric liaison team and she was contacted by telephone about plans to receive counselling referral to Outlook South West which was shared with her mum.

She was discharged on the basis that the full circumstances would be relayed to her GP and a number of agencies to offer support, one of those was Outlook South West, but she only engaged in one or two sessions before she withdrew and missed appointments and chasers.

However the family were upset that they were never told this by the psychiatric team despite numerous attempts by Mrs Alway to contact them.

An investigation by Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust into Georgia's death came up with several recommendations most notably the possible assessment carried out with the family, if a young person gives consent for that to happen. For the family to be kept in the loop if they stop engaging in counselling or therapeutic course so that the family can get the young person to complete the course.

"Sadly it is often case with young people that they are not as reliable as may be more mature people in adhering to or keeping on with therapy or counselling," said Mr Cavell. "It was recognised that young people do need the help of their families and friends to keep them engaged in these processes in the risk of them dropping out of the system.

"It would have been more preferable for Outlook South West and maybe the GP surgery to share the difficulties they were having in contacting Georgia to get her back on the course with her family and particularly mother.

"Concern is going to be relayed to Outlook South West and Georgia's case is going to be discussed to make sure that things are in place so that, if a young person is happy for information to be shared, that family members are present or contacted by telephone and then can be involved in any follow-up or counselling process so that young people don't drop out of the system if they miss appointment.

"While engaged initially, contact was lost in May and no further support provided. It seems to be the nature of Georgia's presentation that her mood was volatile and unpredictable and would have mood swings."

Reaching a verdict of suicide, Mr Cavell said: "It's my finding Georgia intended to take her life and her intention take her life was probably a spur of the moment decision after receiving rejection from a friend and exchange with her ex-boyfriend in conjunction with consuming alcohol and general low mood to do with struggling to find a routine and something constructive during the day to day relationships with friends and a way forward in life."

If you need to talk to someone for any reason, there are people to reach out to:

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Mind: Get short and longer term support in a mental health crisis by visiting www.mind.org.uk 

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