Jade's final text before suicide

The bridge where Jade Hughes hanged herself

A teenage girl who was depressed and preoccupied with death, wrote her final message to her family and friends on a mobile phone before killing herself, an inquest has heard.

A verdict of suicide has been recorded in the death of Jade Hughes, 14, who died three weeks after her best friend Kirsty Botto, 13, was found hanged in her bedroom at her Swansea home.

Jade, who had undergone counselling after an earlier suicide attempt just days before, used her jumper to hang herself from a railway bridge near her home in Landore, Swansea in April.

Next to her body, police found a text message written on her mobile phone saying: "Didn't have time to write a note. Love you all."

I'm going for a walk. Wherever I am and whatever I'm doing, I'll always be with you. Jade Hughes' text message

Jade had spent her final hours searching the internet for "death suicide and poems" and drinking cider and wine in a local park with friends.

She left her friends saying: "I'm going for a walk. Wherever I am and whatever I'm doing, I'll always be with you."

The body of Jade was found just after midnight on Saturday 12 April by a couple out walking.

Detectives were unaware of her identity, but an officer at the scene answered a call on Jade's phone.

It was from her mother Lynn Hughes asking about her whereabouts.

An inquest in Swansea heard that Jade had attempted suicide in her bedroom on the night after the funeral for Kirsty, who had lived just 100m away.

Detective Constable Philip Sparrow said Kirsty's death had "upset Jade and her friends, but there was no evidence of a suicide pact".

The late Kirsty Botto was one of Jade's close friends

Divorcee Ms Hughes described her daughter as "beautiful" and "kind-hearted", and said she was anxious to deny rumours she had been bullied at school.

"My daughter was a beautiful, bright and intelligent girl - she was unfortunate to suffer from a depressive illness. It was this illness that led to her taking her own life," she said.

Before moving to Swansea, Jade spent most of her young life in Truro, Cornwall after her parents split up.

Jade, who was unable to see her father, began cutting her arms at the age of 11 and started then went through what was described as a "Goth phase" in which she was obsessed with songs and poems about death.

She also spent a lot of time at a local cemetery, the hearing was told.

Kirsty Botto was one of only a few friends Jade had made at Pentrehafod Comprehensive.

Swansea and Gower coroner Richard Morgan recorded a verdict of suicide.

The inquest into the death of Kirsty Botto has yet to be held.