Leanne Wolfe was Ireland’s Phoebe Prince’s case
Posted on Friday, April 22, 2011 at 08:21 AM
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Young woman took her life after extreme bullying
Leanne Wolfe took her own life on March 23 2007 in her family home. The day of funeral, her older sister Triona discovered her diaries, which revealed she had been subjected to a campaign of verbal and physical bullying by a group of six girls over a three-year period. As detailed in RTE Radio’s Documentary on One; “The Diary of Leanne Wolfe” this is her story.
Leanne Wolfe’s parents were on holiday in Spain when their phone rang in the middle of the night.
“I knew it was about Leanne,” her mother Colette recalls.
It was their son Anthony calling from their home in Cork to tell them that their 18-year-old daughter had been found dead in her bedroom.
After years of relentless bullying, she had taken an overdose of prescription medication.
Upon hearing the news, Colette’s maternal instincts kicked in as she gave her son Anthony simple instructions about what to do.
“She carried this pink morning coat everywhere she went…it was thread bare and it looked like it was about fifty-years-old…I said to Anthony, make sure that goes with her, that will have to go with her.
“Tell everybody leave the room and then I want you to put the phone down to her, so I can talk to her,” she told her son.
“I told her, Leanne, mammy and daddy are on the way home, we won’t be long and we will be back and we will sort it all out.”
On the night she took her own life she sent one last message to her parents, expressing her love for them.
“I love you two more than anything in the world. I couldn’t have asked for a better mam and dad”
In one of her final diary entries, the Cork teen revealed her distress and torment.
“Dear diary, if anything happens to me, I want this and the previous page read at my funeral. Well the last few days have clearly been the worst for me, Monday I met Mary1 and she thumped me straight into the face, I have a big black eye. I’m mortified. I couldn’t even hit her back and not with everyone laughing at me.
“I’m going to the disco tonight, I’m afraid in case she beats me up in front of everyone.”
“The whole lot of them is snakes, I have no real friends. I am known as a slut and a tramp and a fatty.... this has gone on for too long. I can’t go on with this s**t no more. I really cant it’s not fair.
“What did I do to her, or any of them?” she wrote.
After Leanne’s death, Irish police seized her cell-phone and recovered several abusive text messages which were sent to the teen.
One of the last text messages sent to her epitomized the torment she endured leading up to her death.
“You, ya whore, on my nan’s soul you wouldn’t want to bump into me anytime soon, I swear because I am going to break your face. You are worse than the prostitutes.”
Leanne was getting ready to start college, where she planned to train to become a midwife. Her diaries revealed she has been threatened on several occasions, she had suffered several beatings and on one occasion chunks of her hair were pulled out. Her car was also vandalized.
Her parents believe that her bullies played a significant role in their daughter’s choice to committee suicide.
In response to both Leanne’s and Phoebe’s cases, the Sunday World newspaper launched a bid to have a a Phoebe and Leanne's (PALS) law drawn up to deal with bullies in Ireland.
http://www.sundayworld.com/columnists/index.php?aid=6702
Collette Wolfe told the Sunday World that at least in the U.S. they were sending out a message that what happened to Cork schoolgirl Phoebe Prince is not acceptable.
"What's the point in having a legal system at all when nothing is done to stop bullies? Did what happened to Leanne not matter? That's what it feels like," she said.
Despite evidence against the individuals who bullied Leanne, her family were informed that no-one would be prosecuted.
"Leanne is dead because she was gorgeous, and loved, and the bullies were jealous of that," her mother said.
"I phoned the bully who sent Leanne her last text. She answered and said: 'You listen here, I didn't shove the f**king tablets down her throat'."
Click here to listen to the full RTE Documentary on One; “The Diary of Leanne Wolfe”
6 Comments
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beaumax99 | Jun 01, 2011, 11:29 AM EDT
I believe that parents need to educate their children at home. Let's face it...expecting teachers and school counselors to deal with this type of situation is a total waste. Children are violent and angry these days as both parents are at work all day which takes away attention and interest in the child. Parents come home exhausted after working all day and a large percentage of them don't even want to bother with their children. These kids are left to run around with the worst of the clans and all they have is each other. Our judicial system also needs to let these kids and their parents know that punishment will fit the crime. Not a slap on the hand with community service.
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bunkerhill | Apr 23, 2011, 08:27 AM EDT
One thing I forgot to add. If you know anyone who is very despondent remind them that "Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem." It has come out recently that one young person who jumped off a huge bridge changed his mind on the way down. He was the only known person to surive the jump. Another story came out of a person who changed her mind but did not survive. How many people if they realized there is help will change their mind?
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bunkerhill | Apr 23, 2011, 08:04 AM EDT
This is a terrible story as was the one about Phoebe. What a terrible loss for the young girls and their families. I knew of a young girl who was upset at bullying by her class mates because she was at the top of her class. From what I have seen girls are just as capable of extreme bullying as boys. With boys it also seems to be good students, quiet children or at times children with small builds. Also a bully will pick on new children who are alone or any child who is alightly different. I remember the horrible story of the 14 year old boy who was killed by bullies because he had lost all his hair.
If bullying surprises you look at our history books and see who is glorified. Do you think Alexander the Great, Ghenghis Khan, the Roman Emperors and assorted royalty were bullies? They were the epitomy of monsterous, selfish bullies and these monsters are presented to children as heroes. The more people they killed, the bigger space they the alloted in the history books. Look at our movies and video games. Why would a child not think bullying is acceptable. Our Founding Fathers tried to end bullying in the USA and give everyone a chance with the statement "All men are created equal." Remember this is Easter weekend when Christ delivered the message that good prevails over evil.
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Searlit | Apr 22, 2011, 11:49 AM EDT
Cowardly people gang up against one individual. Why do the authorities protect cowardice, especially when violence is invovled?
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daniel.prosser | Apr 22, 2011, 10:13 AM EDT
It's really depressing to think nobody will be prosecuted for their criminal behaviour in this case. The reason this keeps happening is because there are no repercussions for the bullies. That has to change to keep this from happening over and over. I hope the light shed on this due to Phoebe's story will help. My prayers are with the Prince & Wolfe families.
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