An autistic teenager believed to have taken her life after being groomed by a neo-Nazi and charged with terror offences for downloading a bomb-making manual was “thriving” in the weeks leading up to her death, an inquest has heard.
Chesterfield Coroner’s Court was told that Rhianan Rudd, who died aged 16, had “aspirations and goals” before she was found with a ligature around her neck in a children’s home five months after her charges were dropped.
Rhianan, who would self harm, was pronounced dead at Bluebell House Residential Home in Nottinghamshire on May 19 2022 after she drew pictures of people hanging in her diary, chief coroner Judge Alexia Durran heard.
Rhianan was in the care of the local authority when she died (Family handout/PA)
Paige McMahon, a social worker for Derbyshire County Council, was in contact with Rhianan for a few weeks after her arrest in October 2020, when she recommended a child protection plan, and started working with the girl again in March 2022 after taking over from another social worker.
Ms McMahon told the inquest on Tuesday that the first time she met Rhianan, from Chesterfield in Derbyshire, she had been “very withdrawn, very inside herself” but underwent a “dramatic change” before her death about 18 months later.
She told the inquest: “I would describe her almost as a completely different young person.
“Because I had not physically seen her since then (2020), when I saw her I could not actually believe what she looked like because she was open, she was smiling, she was engaging, she was interactive.
“It was a dramatic change and she was really thriving at Bluebell (House). Not many 16-year-olds had a plan about their future. She had built aspirations and goals which I would consider for Rhianan were very achievable.
“The positive and protective factors were outweighing the risks of self harm… at that time.”
The inquest heard that Rhianan was a victim of grooming by a neo-Nazi she met online and was investigated by police and MI5 after she had sent a WhatsApp message to a school friend saying she wanted to “blow up a Jewish place of worship”.
Rhianan’s mother, Emily Carter, referred her daughter to the de-radicalisation scheme Prevent in September 2020, a month before she was arrested.
Rhianan Rudd (left) was being investigated by police and MI5 (Family handout/PA)
The inquest heard the teenager was “severely impacted” by the police investigation and “deeply scared” about going to prison as a result of being prosecuted.
Ms McMahon told the inquest that when she became involved with Rhianan for the second time in 2022, she was not aware that the girl had drawn people hanging from ligatures in her diary in July the previous year.
She said: “At my point of involvement, Rhianan did not present with suicidal ideation. At that point I don’t think it was something that was discussed because she had not self-harmed since August 2021.”
Ms McMahon told the court she had “no indication” Rhianan was going to take her life and no concern she would self harm between March and her death in May.
Jesse Nicholls, representing Rhianan’s mother, asked the social worker if Rhianan may have not trusted the children’s home staff after they had taken her phone.
Ms McMahon said: “At that point Rhianan had the understanding of Prevent and why she was working with them. The staff at Bluebell House were in a parenting capacity – like a parent if they were worried about something they would take their phone off them.
“I think she had that good enough relationship with them to know they had Rhianan’s best interests.”
The court heard that on one occasion Rhianan approached staff unprompted at the children’s home and gave them a note saying “Kill all Jews”.
The inquest was told that Rhianan had “ended up in a complete state” in March 2022 when talking about the prosecution and that those conversations about her charges had “opened up old wounds”.
Tom Carty, a social worker who was in contact with Rhianan between November 2020 and March 2022, told the inquest he thought Rhianan might have felt “freer or more able to speak” outside of her family home during his early visits with her.
He said that the earlier visits had a “sense of hopelessness and sadness about them” in comparison to when Rhianan was living at Bluebell House.
Rhianan was moved into the children’s home in April 2021 after incidents including self-harm and running away.
The inquest continues.