An 18-year-old was killed when she was hit by a car the day she was released from hospital after attempting suicide.

The pre-inquest review into the death of Mara Leticia Nunes was held at Canterbury Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, April 6.

The teenager was killed on the A258 between Ringwould and Walmer on Saturday, January 10 last year when she was struck by a silver Vauxhall Astra.

Coroner Alan Blunsdon heard how she suffered from mental health issues and had been under Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Dover before she turned 18.

Text messages between her and her support worker Kylie Brown, as well as Facebook posts and diary entries collected in a police search of her Walmer flat revealed her state of mind, and will be released at the inquest.

Kay Learmond, representing the Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT), said the inquest would determine if there had been a real and immediate risk to the life of a vulnerable person.

She said: “I won’t argue that Mara was a vulnerable person.”

She told the coroner that Mara wasn’t an in-patient or under state detention. She was living independently after being in foster care in Tilmanstone.

Ms Learmond explained that a one-off assessment had resulted in Mara being taken on by the crisis team.

The former Sandwich Technology School pupil was originally from Guernsey in the Channel Islands and her family live overseas.

Guernsey Social Services, represented by Claire Hennessy, was still responsible for her foster care when she came to England.

The teen, who was described by friends in tributes as “one of a kind”, had been living with
foster carer Christine Mountain in Pike Road, Tilmanstone, for the past five years before she moved to France and Mara moved to Walmer.

Guernsey Social Services has launched a serious case review overseen by the Island Child
Protection Committee.

Ms Hennessy said: “Guernsey Social Services is very willing to engage and wants to learn lessons and find out if there were any difficulties here.”

Coronor Mr Blunsdon said her care worker visited her on January 6, just after a second overdose attempt.

He said: “Mara didn’t want to talk about it and said she had a slip.”

Summarising at the end of the hearing, Mr Blunsdon said: “She took an overdose in early September and another overdose on January 2 or 3 and went to hospital. On the day she was released from hospital she was struck down by a car.

“At this stage I won’t say if she took her own life because I don’t know.”

The full inquest into her death is expected to be held this year.

A flower box marks the spot where she was killed on the A258 and a memorial bench was also placed at Pines Gardens in St
Margaret’s.

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