OUTWARDLY Imogen D'Arcy was a perfectly normal, happy, pretty, bright girl who came from a good family and lived in one of the most comfortable parts of Leeds.

And yet, as with so many adolescents, she was wrestling with internal struggles – but in Imogen's case they led to her taking her own life.

The 13-year-old was discovered by her father Paul in the bathroom of their home in Adel just before Christmas of last year. She'd asphyxiated herself with the lead from his computer and left a handwritten note in which she described herself as being fat and ugly.

But another bombshell came with the discovery that Imogen had been visiting websites which not only encouraged suicide but gave advice on how to take her own life, and the best means of hiding her intention from friends and relatives.

She wasn't the first to slip into this destructive online culture. It is estimated that since 2001 some 32 people have committed suicide after looking at one of these sites.

But what prompts individuals to visit them?

"Nobody really knows what's going on with regards to suicide websites, at this stage so much of it can only be the subject of observations and speculation." said Allan House, a professor of liaison psychiatry at Leeds University who worked as a consultant at Leeds General infirmary for 16 years.

"But one of the things we do know is that when young people get caught up in states of distress they often can't see a way out and develop a preoccupation with suicide – for example it can feel like a way of having some sense of control. That's something which is far more common than most people realise.

"The question which must be answered with regards to suicidal feelings is why do some people act on them?

"Visiting these websites isn't a very thought-out, problem-solving action, they're often just visiting to see who else is perhaps thinking what they're thinking and there is a sense that they don't want to feel alone, that there are other people feeling the same emotions."

But how do these sites convince someone who is contemplating suicide move to actually commit the act?

"Whether or not these sites make them far more likely to act on suicidal tendencies, we can't answer for sure.

"There's an assumption that the people who are writing on these sites are of a rational state of mind and making rational decision, but since they are often in a distressed state that's not the case.

"A further problem is the counter-culture of adolescents, one that means the more unattractive and wrong young people are told something is the more attractive it can become to them."

Anthony Langan of The Samaritans, who is heading up a campaign for internet saftey on behalf of the organisation, agrees.

He said: "The trouble is that even if you introduce filters young people today are adept at getting round them. Also, the second you put a wall in front of a young person it instantly makes them more inclined to want to peer over the top." he said.

"So we've been working on more practical measures, like getting the main search engines to display the more harmful sites further down the list of search results when someone types in words like 'suicide' or related words.

Proof of this particular problem came earlier this year with a study carried out by the British Medical Journal revealing just how easy it was to access suicide sites online. Researchers used four search engines to look for suicide-related sites and the three most frequently occurring sites were all pro-suicide.

"Now though, users are more likely to come across an organisation such as The Samaritans first." said Mr Langan. "That's important because a lot of youngsters don't just set out to find one of these potentially harmful sites, they may just want to look at the topic of suicide from many different perspectives and come across them."

The next step for campaigners is an amendment to the 1961 Suicide Act which prevents the promotion of taking one's own life – unfortunately it currently doesn't cover the internet.

Langan said: "What's positive about this change is that it will clarify the law once and for all and search engines and internet service providers will have a a clearer definition as to what's illegal."

Backing this move is Greg Mulholland, MP for the Leeds north-west constituency where Imogen's family live. He's acting on behalf of the D'Arcys to close this deadly loophole in the law.

"The fact that this hasn't been done sooner is very frustrating." said Mr Mulholland. "After all it would receive cross-party support and is a very simple measure to take – it could even be introduced immediately without going through the normal parliamentary procedure.

"I will continue to press the government to introduce these measures as soon as possible and I've already written to the minister concerned to express my extreme concerns."


The government this year was partly prompted to act following the worrying spate of suicides in Bridgend area of Wales where, over the last two years, 23 young people took their own lives in a suspected pact, possibly linked to the internet.

But this apparently new online phenomenon is one which is difficult to suppress entirely and campaign groups, and Mr Mulholland, acknowledge it's a scourge which is difficult to eradicate entirely from a world wide web.

"This legislation would send out a very clear signal," he said. "And it will be difficult for people in this country to set up websites promoting suicide, but it doesn't cover websites set up from abroad.

"So policing a world wide web - as with similar instances of child pornography and terrorism - is very difficult indeed. It's also something of a legal minefield when it comes to who you prosecute and on what basis.

"That said, I hope that these changes will make it much more difficult to access these terrible sites and as a first step in tackling them it is very important."

Parents speak out


The devastated parents of Imogen have spoken out against the sick websites which may have contributed to her taking her own life.

Mum Susan D'Arcy, 40, said: "When we looked at the browsing history on the internet, we couldn't believe it when we found all of these websites on suicide that Imogen had been looking at. There were all sorts of hints and types on how to take their life, the most effective ways, how painful each different way was to do.

"I couldn't believe how easy it is to find methods of killing yourself, and to think that Imogen had been looking at these for weeks and weeks before her death. Children or anyone should not be able to get hold of this type of information."

"She was a lovely child, and it was completely out of character for her to do this, she seemed to be happy. We talked openly about everything as a family, and if I even had a slight hint that something was wrong I would have moved mountains to give her all the help and support she would have needed.

"I just feel so useless that she was going through all this by herself and she didn't think she could have come to me and tell me if anything was bothering her."

As well as suicide websites, she was looking at anorexia websites, which came as another shock to her family, as Imogen was pretty, fit and healthy and from what they could see, she had nothing to worry about in terms of her weight.

"Imogen has always been very healthy and her weight has never come up as an issue. Some of her friends have since spoken out saying that she did worry about her weight but she was so active that you would have never thought that to look at her."

"We believe that she was going through the normal woes that every teenager goes through, but looking at these websites not only encouraged her but tipped her over the edge.

"I had only recently spoken to her about how difficult the teenage years can be, and that you go through a lot of changes in your body. I always encouraged her to come to me and talk to me, that's why I will never be able to get my head around why she thought she couldn't come to me so I could help."

"I just don't know where it all came from and the heartbreaking thing is that we will never know, she had to suffer in silence and instead of coming to us, she searched for answers on the internet and found these horrific sites."

Statement issued by Imogen's parents following this week's inquest into her death


Imogen was a shy, gentle and kind-hearted girl. She was performing well academically at school and was well liked by her friends and teachers.

That she would choose to end her life in such a violent manner was completely unforeseen by everyone who knew her.

In the weeks leading up to her suicide attempt her behaviour gave no clue as to the suicidal thoughts that had taken hold of her mind.

Imogen accessed internet suicide sites on her computer and whilst these were not the root cause of her suicidal thoughts, these sites provided her with the means and guaranteed success of her actions.

The pain and anguish of losing our beautiful daughter are indescribable. We would urge parents to exercise extreme vigilance in overseeing the use of the internet by youngsters and teenagers.

Finally we would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to the staff at the LGI and Martin House Hospice who cared for Imogen during the last days of her life.