'Chances missed' to help groomed terrorism suspect
An inquest into the death of a 16-year-old girl who was groomed before being charged with terrorism offences has found there were missed opportunities to help her by the authorities.
Chief coroner Alexia Durran concluded there were chances for the police and Derbyshire County Council to refer Rhianan Rudd earlier for consideration as a potential victim of modern slavery.
Ms Rudd was the youngest girl charged with terrorism offences in the UK when she was charged with having weapon-making guides but the charges were dropped in 2021 after the Home Office concluded she was a victim of exploitation.
She took her own life in May 2022.
At the conclusion of her inquest on Monday, Ms Durran said at Chesterfield Coroner's Court there was arguably a "systems failure" by counter-terror police and the county council, which meant they failed to refer the teenager to the government earlier.
However, the inquest found no organisation was to blame for her death.
The inquest heard Ms Rudd had been groomed and sexually exploited online by an American neo-Nazi.
The coroner found she was also influenced by a former partner of her mother who had once been in a white supremacist gang.
Her mother, Emily Carter, said she accepted making errors and asked for the authorities "to stand up and admit their mistakes".
In a statement, Ms Carter said: "I believe there were many people in positions of authority who could and should have realised mistakes were being made in the way Rhianan was treated and that opportunities to support her were being missed.
"Throughout this time, I saw first-hand the impact these failings had on my daughter's mental health in the period before she took her life."
Ms Durran also found there were missed opportunities by the council to provide mental health support sooner.
She delivered an open conclusion after finding she could not be sure Ms Rudd intended to die.
Ms Carter added: "The chief coroner has found that Rhianan was denied access to services which should have supported and protected her and, I believe, could have saved her life."
Assistant Chief Constable Di Coulson, speaking on behalf of Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands (CTPEM) and Derbyshire Constabulary, said the case had been a complex one "involving a very vulnerable young person, who had been subjected to radicalisation".
"Rhianan's case was a stark moment for our management of the growing numbers of children and young people in our casework – so often presenting vulnerability as well as risk and threat to the public," she said.
"Since Rhianan's death, we continue to work alongside our partners to evolve the way we approach cases involving children and, where feasible, attempt to rehabilitate and deradicalise, rather than investigate and convict."
Ms Coulson added that while "substantial improvements to the way we manage these cases" had been made, the inquest findings would be "carefully reviewed".
Follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.
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Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands
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