College student who blamed herself for rape attack leaps to death from bridge

Harriet McCormick, 20, was "vivacious and happy" before the attack and planned to go to university.

She did not report the rape to police because she feared she would not be able to identify her attacker, an inquest heard yesterday.

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As a result, she became depressed and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

She started to self-harm and made two unsuccessful suicide attempts.

In August last year, nine months after the rape, Miss McCormick jumped to her death from a bridge over the M4 motorway in Cardiff.

She had spent seven months working with children in slum schools in South America before returning to Britain in October 2006, where she lived with her mother Cheryl, a nurse, in Radyr, Cardiff.

A month later she dressed up as a policewoman to go out drinking with a group of friends in Cardiff city centre.

But she became separated from the group after meeting a man in a nightclub.

He raped her in a car park, but all she could remember about her attacker was that he was tall with brown messy hair and a South Wales valleys accent.

She blamed herself for the attack because she had strayed from her custom of staying with her friends while on a night out.

Although she did not report the rape to police she told her mother about it the next day.

Speaking at Cardiff Coroner's Court yesterday, Mrs McCormick said: "I think she felt dirty. She felt as if she'd been violated, which she had.

"She was very upset. She experienced flashbacks and insomnia, and she didn't like the dark. She felt very vulnerable and found it difficult to cope. She had never had any of these feelings before.'

She found an email her daughter, who was planning to study French and Spanish at Bristol University, had written to the Samaritans last May.

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It said: "I'm finding life really difficult at the moment. It's even a struggle to get out of bed. The first thing I think about is dying, and I'm worried because I want it to happen.

"I've been through something traumatic. Though I hate feeling sorry for myself, it's been the hardest thing I've had to deal with in my life."

Miss McCormick, whose father William is a company director, said she had overdosed previously because she believed "everyone would be better off". She added she was tired of pretending to be "happy normal me" and could not cope with others' concern as it made her feel guilty.

The rape affected her friends, too, some of whom self-harmed after she was sexually assaulted.

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Coroner Mary Hassell said the death was "extraordinarily sad".

She added: "She really had everything, but had that taken away from her by the man who raped her. I'm absolutely appalled at the consequences for Harriet."

After the inquest Mrs McCormick - who has another daughter, Amanda, and sons Michael and Richard - urged young people in her daughter's situation to get help, particularly in light of the recent suicides in Bridgend, South Wales.

She said: "Harriet didn't report what happened to her because she blamed herself.

"We feel that if anything like that happens to another young girl, please, please seek help straight away. Don't be afraid. Don't blame yourself."