Girl, 16, took her own life after being branded a racist when her friends shared an Instagram picture of her with darkened skin and a headscarf

Phoebe Connop, 16, from Halesowen in the West Midlands, had edited the photo after getting into an online relationship with an Asian male. 


The talented gymnast sent the picture to friends on a private Instagram chat, explaining that the only way she would win the approval of her boyfriend's parents would be if she looked like the girl in the photo. An inquest at Black Country Coroner's Court heard how hung herself after the image was then taken out of the private chat and spread wider by one of her friends, prompting Phoebe into fearing a backlash.