‘Happy’ girl, 12, took fatal overdose after making sex assault claim – as tearful mum tells inquest ‘it destroyed her’
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A "HAPPY" schoolgirl, 12, took a fatal overdose after making a sexual assault claim - her heartbroken mum old an inquest "it destroyed her". Semina Halliwell tragically died in hospital on June 12 2021, after the tragedy unfolded at her home in Southport, Merseyside.
![[Portrait of a young girl wearing a denim jacket.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/937f894c-6de9-41e5-ac36-3469c2003038_d37cc4.jpg?strip=all&w=577)
At an inquest at Bootle Town Hall on Monday, her devastated mum Rachel Halliwell said her daughter had been a "happy little girl". But she began to self harm after starting at Stanley High School. In March 2021 Semina told her mum she had been sexually assaulted in January that year.
![[Close-up selfie of a young woman.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/20c4d01c-0a6e-463d-a1ac-7fd5933417c7.jpg?strip=all&w=741)
Ms Halliwell wept as she told the coroner's court: "It destroyed her mentally, physically. She changed into a different person.". The grief-stricken mum recalled how her daughter withdrew her complaint after making a report to the police, because "she felt like she wasn't believed".
She continued: "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.".
Ms Halliwell told the inquest Semina was not supported enough by the police, social services or her school. Harriet Johnson, representing the family, asked what difference there might have been if Semina had more support. Ms Halliwell said: "She'd still be here today.".
