Grieving father Jonathan Scott-Lee has called for a judicial review into the inquest of his daughter's death after Caitlyn, 16, took her own life after becoming over-anxious about detention.
The grieving father of a teenager who took her own life after becoming anxious about detention has called for a judicial review into the inquest of her suicide.
Caitlyn Scott-Lee was found dead in a backstage area of her prestigious £44,000-a-year boarding school on April 21 last year after becoming anxious and depressed.
The autistic 16-year-old had 'hyper-fixated' on her first ever 'headmistress's detention' following the discovery of vodka in her locker at Wycombe Abbey School in Buckinghamshire.
Following a three-day inquest into the 16-year-old's death, her father, Jonathan, has called on the High Court of Justice to review senior coroner Crispin Butler.
Mr Scott-Lee has put the motion forward based on several grounds including reporting restrictions placed on the hearing as well as failure to investigate.
Grieving father Jonathan Scott-Lee (right) has called for a judicial review into the suicide inquest of his daughter Caitlyn (left)
Caitlyn was discovered dead at a backstage area of her £44,000 a year boarding school - Wycombe Abbey School in Buckinghamshire
The father contended that the coroner has acted unlawfully by concluding the school had no case to answer regarding the detention.
He argued that it was an Article 2 inquest meaning there was a broader scope to investigate a person's death.
This comes shortly after Simon Baron-Cohen - who is an expert on autism based at Cambridge University - was prohibited from giving evidence.
A report, including Baron-Cohen's conclusions surrounding Caitlyn's death were also absent from proceedings.
The application for a judicial review into Caitlyn Scott-Lee's inquest includes quotes from Sir Simon's findings.
He said:'If her GP or school had been well-informed of autistic people's very high risk for suicide they should have triaged her as needing urgent support for her mental health.
'I understand her GP triaged her as low risk because she did not disclose any self harming behaviour, but her autism diagnosis should have trumped this in terms of indicators of high suicide risk.
'[GPs, teachers and parents] should assume if a young person is autistic, this should be taken as a "red flag" for suicide and not be shy to ask the young person if they have felt suicidal, or if there have been any past suicide attempts especially ones that they are unaware of.
Caitlyn, who was autistic, became over-anxious and depressed as she faced her first ever detention
The 16-year-old had been handed detention after vodka was found in her locker (pictured: Wycombe Abbey School)
'An autistic person who seeks help for depression should be seen by a specialist within 24 hours.'
A three-day inquest heard the youngster had become over-anxious and depressed after she had been given detention at the boarding school.
The 16-year-old had previously voiced her worries in her diary and also to her roommate, stating that she would rather take her own life that face her first detention.
During a meeting with her GP and a mental health nurse in the weeks before she died Caitlyn had admitted to having suicidal thoughts ,but had not acted on them.
When the inquest came to a conclusion on May 1, the coroner concluded that neither the school or health officials failed the teen in the run up to her death.
He said the alcohol incident and Caitlyn's disappearance from a concert at Eton College days later did not show she was suffering a mental health crisis.
'There was no evidence that would have assisted her school about what was to happen on April 21. There was no interaction that demonstrate a crisis of impending crisis.
'There was no clear evidence of a mental health crisis visible to anyone Caitlyn interacted with.
'No one other than Caitlyn could have known what was going to happen. The act that took her life was the outcome she had wanted.'
Wycombe Abbey's headteacher Joanne Duncan told the inquest that the school was unaware of Caitlyn's mental health struggles.
The inquest also heard that the 16-year-old was not on a list of girls with 'serious mental health issues' at the boarding school.
Ms Duncan added: 'We are deeply saddened that we were unaware of the difficulties she was suffering with.'
Statistics show that as many as 66 per cent of autistic adults have suicidal thoughts, while about 35 per cent have attempted to take their own lives, according to Cambridge University.
Following the inquest's verdict the Autism Centre of Excellence at Cambridge said more needed to be done to prevent suicide among those with autism.
The father contended it was an Article 2 inquest meaning there was a broader scope for investigating an individuals death and as such the the coroner acted unlawfully by concluding the school had no case to answer regarding the detention (pictured: Caitlyn and her family)
This comes shortly after Simon Baron-Cohen - who is an expert on autism based at Cambridge University - was prohibited from giving evidence (pictured: Jonathan and Caitlyn)
When the inquest came to a conclusion on May 1, the coroner concluded that neither the school or health officials failed the teen in the run up to her death
A letter signed by medical experts and charities was sent to the Government pressing for more funding and commitment to ending the issue.
Tom Purser, CEO of the Autism Centre said: 'Caitlyn's inquest has demonstrated that despite schools and the NHS doing their best, it is too frequently not enough to prevent the most tragic of outcomes.
'Our letter, signed by charities, academics and ambassadors, demonstrates the strength of feeling and resolve that more action is needed to turn the tide on the national scandal of the number of autistic people dying by suicide.
'The Government must listen, both to the people signing our letter and to the countless stories like Caitlyn's which send a loud and clear message - work with us and help save autistic people's lives.'
For help, call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org