Girl found dead after supervision request rejected

A 16-year-old girl who died in a Child Youth and Family centre should have been checked on at least every 90 minutes but was not seen by staff for more than six hours.

The details were revealed in an inquest yesterday into the death of Carla Louise Frew, who was being held in Christchurch's Kingslea Residential Centre on a four-month, court-imposed supervision order.

Carla was causing trouble on the night before her death, but acting night staff supervisor Nick Bentley disagreed with staff who wanted her placed into the centre's secure unit where she could be constantly monitored.

The centre's logbooks showed the required overnight visual checks had been done on the girls at the Scottford House unit, where Carla resided, but after she had calmed down about 1.30am, she was not seen again until being found dead in her room at 8am.

Her death, on January 3, 2005, resulted in four staff at the centre being stood down, and proceedings to dismiss Mr Bentley. After a personal grievance case, he was able to resign instead.

Mr Bentley filled in the logbook and said he wrongly assumed staff had done the visual checks.

The court heard that Carla had been playing up because she wanted to be shifted to the centre's secure unit to be with a friend.

Shortly before she died, she told another resident she was "going to haunt the staff".

Carla had been visited by her family just before her death.

"She seemed quite anxious to see us, but also anxious for us to go,"her mother, Christine Frew, told the court.

"I had no idea why Carla did this. There were no signs whatsoever."

Carla's case worker, Stephanie Dowsett, said Carla had a tendency to hide weapons or simulate her death to make a point. But she had been making steady improvements.

Kingslea night attendant Elizabeth Rigby said she wanted Carla shifted to the secure unit, but Mr Bentley "wouldn't have a bar of it".

Mr Bentley said: "It was certainly not at the stage where I felt we had to intervene or restrain her."

The inquest, before Christchurch coroner Richard McElrea, continues today.