'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.

Rhianan became the youngest girl charged with terrorism offences in the UK and was investigated by MI5 after she downloaded a bomb-making manual, but the charges were dropped in 2021 after the Home Office concluded she was a victim of exploitation.

She took her own life at a children's home in May 2022.

At the conclusion of her inquest at Chesterfield Coroner's Court on Monday, Ms Durran said 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 and Ms Durran found it was "necessary and appropriate" to investigate and prosecute the teenager for terrorism offences.

The inquest, held over four weeks in February and March, heard Rhianan had been groomed and sexually exploited online by an American neo-Nazi, and that she had become "fixated" on Adolf Hitler and wanted to "blow up a synagogue".

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."

The family's solicitor, Anna Moore, said Rhianan was described by some of those involved with her as "the most vulnerable child they had ever come across".

"Many of the agencies which dealt with her over a period of many months had legal obligations to safeguard her, and yet she was still let down," she added.

Ms Durran also found there were missed opportunities by the council to provide mental health support sooner.

The coroner said there had been a missed opportunity to refer the teenager to Nottinghamshire Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) when she moved to a children's home in the county.

Ms Durran said: "Derbyshire County Council was responsible for this missed opportunity to refer Rhianan to Nottinghamshire Camhs. As a result, Rhianan was without Camhs support for a considerable time - effectively from May 2021 to May 2022.

"I find it was a result of individual decisions or missed opportunities to make a referral in an otherwise functioning system."

The coroner delivered a narrative conclusion after finding she could not be sure Rhianan intended to die.

"I'm satisfied the missed opportunities in this case are not systemic," Ms Durran said.

"I'm not satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, Rhianan intended to take her own life. Rhianan's death... was the result of a self-inflicted act but it is not possible to ascertain her intention.

"In the circumstances, I do not consider I should make a prevention of future deaths report.

"Rhianan was known, to family and professionals, to be vulnerable, to have autistic traits and have a history of self-harm."

Rhianan's mother 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."

Derbyshire County Council has been approached for comment.

Assistant Chief Constable Di Coulson, speaking on behalf of Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands and Derbyshire Police, 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".

Nick Price, director of legal services at the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "This is a tragic case, and I want to send my sincere condolences and sympathy to Rhianan's family.

"We do not prosecute young or vulnerable people lightly. Terrorism offences are extremely serious, and these are decisions our specialist prosecutors take great care over."

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