Gardaí to examine phones of suicide victim’s friends
Officers are asking the children to voluntarily hand over their mobile phones during the interviews.
There are claims that Chloe Coleman, who died last Monday week at her home in Longford town, had been bullied in the lead-up to her suicide.
There are also unconfirmed reports that she was attacked at a disco in the town the previous Friday.
Her grandfather, Oliver Coleman, has alleged she had been bullied by a number of local teenagers. There are reports she may have received abusive text messages in the days beforehand.
Gardaí are interviewing friends and a number of classmates of Chloe’s in the company of their parents.
As the interviews are voluntary, the children and their parents are free not to answer any questions and can refuse to hand over their phones.
Gardaí are currently conducting inquiries as part of their report for the coroner’s inquest. If they come to the belief there are suspicious circumstances surrounding her death, their inquiry could progress to a criminal investigation.
Chloe had significant “family problems” and her father, convicted killer Oliver Coleman, was extradited to Britain last year to face grievous assault charges.
If gardaí physically get hold of phones of friends they can check the contents of text messages, which they cannot do otherwise.
They can also check Chloe’s phone, which they would have recovered.
If gardaí do detect possible criminal behaviour, such as harassment, charges would be difficult to pursue without the victim’s testimony.
