An 18-year-old bride-to-be has become the 14th young person to commit suicide in Bridgend and the surrounding area in the past year.
Friends said that Angeline Fuller, who described herself as a Goth, had a history of depression and had made two previous suicide attempts.
Paramedics were called to the flat that she shared with her boyfriend in Nantymoel, Bridgend, early on Monday morning. Her fianc? Joel Williams, 21, said that they had recently become engaged and she had “everything to live for”.
He had left her downstairs with friends while he went to bed. Later he went to look for her but found his bedroom door had been locked. By the time he managed to open it, she was dead, hanged from the bannister.
Ms Fuller moved to Bridgend from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, about 18 months ago after being introduced to Mr Williams by her friend Sarah Shaw. She worked as a shop assistant for the fashion chain Jaeger.
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The cluster of suicides around Bridgend has alarmed police, health authorities, MPs and the South Wales Coroner. A task force has been set up to investigate the problem.
At least seven of the victims were known to each other. Some experts believe that the deaths may have been copycat suicides, triggered by tributes on social networking websites.
Police said yesterday that they did not believe that Ms Fuller was linked to any of the previous suicides. A spokeswoman for South Wales Police said: “There are no suspicious circumstances and an investigation is being carried out on behalf of the coroner. The death is not linked to other recent sudden deaths in the area.”
Mr Williams left a tribute to his “poor lost Angie” on his own MySpace web page. He said: “Just a note to let you all know that at 1am Monday morning, life took away from us one of the kindest, sweethearted loving people we could ever have been blessed to know. I love angie and i always will. I love you baby. xxx” Ms Fuller used the social networking websites Bebo and Facebook. On her Facebook profile page, she listed her interests as music, art, psychology, and “generally interesting things”. In the section “About Me”, she wrote: “i dont like myself, but hey who does? “i’m an angry drunk, i hate religion, i love my boyfreind and i had my hair cut short and dyed purple yesterday!”
Mrs Shaw, who had known Ms Fuller since she was aged 5, said last night: “We are shocked because they had just got engaged and the future was looking good. They could be very lovey-dovey at times but they had a very volatile relationship where they could argue violently with each other.
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“She was working, looking after the house, and I think everything got on top of her.”
The latest death has shocked residents in an area that has become too used to tragedy.
Sam Naidu, a local shopkeeper, said: “Both of them were very excited at getting engaged. I was so delighted for them that I gave her a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates.
“She was a well-presented, well-spo-ken girl who popped in to get her groceries every week. I’m shocked that this has happened to her – she seemed so happy.”
The terraced house where Miss Fuller died was in darkness yesterday, with floral tributes left outside.
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Ms Fuller’s parents, who are of Indian origin, travelled from the Midlands to identify her body at the University of Wales, Cardiff. An inquest is to be opened on Friday.
Ms Fuller’s death comes just days after the funeral of Natasha Randall, 17, who was found hanged last month. The other young people to have died are Dale Crole, 18, David Dilling, 19, Thomas Davies, 20, Zachery Barnes, 17, Gareth Morgan, 27, James Knight, 26, Jason Williams, 21, Andrew O’Neill, 19, Leigh Jenkins, 22, Liam Clarke, 20 and Alan Price, 21.
Madeleine Moon, the Bridgend Labour MP, has secured a Commons debate on suicide prevention, which will take place later this week. In a Commons written reply, Paul Murphy, the Welsh Secretary, said that the tragic deaths were of “great concern and distress” to him.