1. Sophie Clark inquest

Sherborne schoolgirl Sophie Clark took her own life, Dorset coroner concludes

How to cover an inquest - and get praised by the Samaritans 

Originally published: January 24, 2017

A teenager whose body was found in woods just outside Sherborne took her own life, an inquest has concluded.

13-year-old Sophie Clark left her home on Acreman Place in Sherborne at 6.30pm on June 14 last year, and never returned.

Her father, James Clark, reported her missing later the same evening, prompting an extensive search of the area by officers from Dorset Police.
Her body was discovered by a passer-by in woods near Dancing Hill the following day.
Read the full story here.

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I was Sherborne reporter for Somerset Live when Sophie Clark was first reported missing in June 2016. We published numerous updates on the search for her, with most of the information coming from Dorset Police, and shared these updates widely on social media.

Sophie's death had been such a high-profile story for the community - to the extent that it was picked up by national newspapers like The Daily Express (here), The Mirror (here) and The Times (here). There were unsubstantiated reports at the time of news organisations knocking on the doors of Sherborne residents in the days after her death, asking for information about her - reports which were incorrectly attributed to my publication. I would not have either countenanced or indulged in such behaviour, since it would go against two aspects of the Editor's Code of Practice: clause 2 (privacy) and clause 4 (intrusion into grief and shock). But these reports made me doubly determined that we provide a sensitive treatment of her inquest when the time came.

I attended the coroner's hearing in Bournemouth on January 23, 2017. Sophie's father was present and spoke briefly during the hearing. I approached him after coroner Sheriff Payne had given his conclusion of suicide by hanging; he said that he did not want to comment. I spent the next three hours painstakingly going over my notes to make sure that the narrative was accurate and deciding how much detail was ethical and relevant to report, ensuring we would be in line with the Samaritans' guidelines for reporting suicide, as well as clause 5 of the Code. I took every care not to sensationalise any aspect of the events leading up to Sophie's death, focusing on the chain of events and ending with the coroner's sympathetic statement. My report was slightly amended by the newsdesk to remove a couple of details which were deemed too specific, but otherwise I was commended for my work.

The final report was shared widely on our social media, and unlike our previous reports about the teenager received very little criticism. I also received a phone call from the Samaritans press office commending me for the sensitive nature of my coverage. While the story was successful for us in terms of hits, what is more important to me is that we treated the subject and her family with the respect she deserves, and in doing so endeared us to our audience. I am very proud of my work on this story and used it as a yardstick for all subsequent inquests I have covered.