Girl, 12, Took Her Own Life After Being Told ‘It’s Your Word Against His’

A 12-year-old girl who took her own life after making a sexual assault allegation “felt like she wasn’t believed”, her mother has told an inquest. Semina Halliwell died on 12 June 2021, three days after attempting to take her own life at their home in Southport, Merseyside.

In March 2021, she told her mother she had been sexually assaulted in January of that year. Her mother Rachel Halliwell said Semina had been a “happy little girl” but began to self-harm after starting high school. Ms. Halliwell told the coroner’s court the assault “destroyed [Semina] mentally, physically”.

“She changed into a different person,” she said. Ms Halliwell said after reporting the incident to the police Semina initially withdrew the complaint. “She felt like she wasn’t believed,” Ms Halliwell said to Sky News.

“I think to say to a 12-year-old child, ‘it is going to take 18 months to two years to go to court, do you really want it hanging over your head’ and ‘it’s your word against his’ is not what any woman or child who has been through sexual assault or rape needs to hear and she was 12 with autism.”

Semina was bullied and beaten up three times after she made the allegation, her mother said. Eventually, Semina decided “enough was enough” and went ahead with the complaint, and was interviewed by police. But she said she “couldn’t cope” with the “chaos” of what was going on.

Police officers had visited Semina’s home to look at CCTV footage after which she said: “I’ve had enough of this.” Her mother said: “I took it that she’d had enough of police being in the house.” Semina’s brother found her lying on the floor on 9 June 2021. She was taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, where she died three days later.

In a statement read to the court, consultant pediatrician Mark Deakin said Semina asked him if she was going to die the day after she was admitted. He said on 10 June she told him she regretted taking an overdose, saying she was trying to “make her sleep for a couple of days”. The inquest is set to last seven days.