Caitlyn Scott-Lee, 16, was found dead in a secluded area of the Wycombe Abbey private school after she had been found with alcohol on her possession about a month before her death
The father of an autistic private school girl who is believed to have killed herself one day before her detention has shared her tragic last diary entry.
Caitlyn Scott-Lee, 16 was found dead at Wycombe Abbey, in Buckinghamshire, on April 21 last year, on the day before she was to have her first-ever detention. At an inquest at Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Court today, it was heard the detention was pencilled in after she was found with alcohol on March 19. She had been due to play at a concert at Eton College, in Berkshire, but she went missing and was found more than two miles away at her mother’s home in Windsor.
A diary entry, found following Caitlyn’s death, described the incident as her “best cry out for help”. Wycombe Abbey headmistress Jo Duncan was asked if staff made a connection between what happened on the day of the Eton College concert and alcohol being found in her possession. “From my perspective we saw them as different incidents,” she said.
She said staff believed Caitlyn ran away from the concert as she did not want her mother to see her perform. She previously had issues with her parents watching her play music. Caitlyn’s dad, senior banker Jonathan Scott-Lee praised his daughter as a “daddy’s girl.” He said: “I took care of her, dressed her, cuddled her, fed her, and soothed her.”
“As she grew as a toddler, there would be bittersweet moments where she would stand by the window of our home and cry as I left for my daily commute. Little did she know I would return each evening.” Scott-Lee said he was autistic, like his daughter. Mr Scott-Lee said their feelings were “amplified” as they are “internal”. “Caitlyn was so much more than autism, Wycombe Abbey, and detention,” he said.
Mr Scott-Lee told the inquest he had looked through a photo album after her death. He said: “I saw photos of Caitlyn obtaining her scuba diving licence at age 10 in the Philippines, playing tennis in Scotland, modelling in Singapore, camping in Wales, riding helicopters in New Zealand, skiing across Japan, honing rifle marksmanship in Birmingham, driving at age 13 at Mercedes Brooklands, and hiking the Great Wall of China.
“Even I was surprised at how full a life Caitlyn lived in 6,041 days.” The inquest heard that staff began to search for Caitlyn after she failed to return in time for curfew at her boarding school accommodation on April 21. She was then found in a secluded area of the school.
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