A 15-year-old girl has died in hospital four days after falling from her horse, it has been revealed.

Samantha Richards, who liked to be called Sam, failed to recover from serious head injuries.

She fell from her beloved horse, Rhummy, while riding him with a friend near the entrance to Muswell Manor, Leysdown, on Sheppey. She had given her riding hat to her friend to wear.

Her mother, Claire, says she is finding comfort in the fact that Sam died doing something she loved. She said: "Sam lived and breathed horses. She went to sleep reading about them and woke up talking about them."

Staff and pupils at Minster College on Sheppey, where Sam was a pupil, are planning to hold a memorial service and plant a tree in her memory.

Sam had started a part-time job at a cafe next door to the family home in Leysdown Road, Leysdown. She had been saving up to buy her horse a rug.

Sam also leaves a twin sister Michelle, as well as Lucy 11, Rosie 12, Katie, 14 and brother Josh, who is eight.

FULL STORY IN THIS WEEK'S SHEERNESS TIMES GUARDIAN