Date rape model's overdose tragedy

An aspiring model died from a drugs overdose after being date raped.

The family of 19-year-old Lisa Burgess today said she felt betrayed by a decision not to prosecute her attacker.

Her mother Mary, 49, said she turned from a "cheeky, fun-loving girl with a smile that could light up a room" to someone who was afraid to leave her home.

An inquest heard that Miss Burgess was raped by a man she knew. She bravely told police about her ordeal and the suspect was arrested.

However, her family said that despite a catalogue of evidence, including a witness, the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to go ahead with the case and the man was released without charge.

Three months later she was found dead from an overdose of Codeine in the bathroom-of her flat in Thatcham, Berkshire. Mrs Burgess said: "She thought the system had let her down and people had let her down. She phoned me in tears saying, 'Why don't they believe me, Mum? They are calling me a liar'."

The inquest heard that two weeks after the rape Miss Burgess was savagely attacked by a gang with an iron bar. Her parents said they believed it may have been an attempt to stop her telling police about the rape suspect. Miss Burgess, who worked as a chef, suffered a four-inch gash to her head, a twisted spine and an injury to one kidney that was so serious surgeons had to remove it. As a diabetic she had suffered lifelong problems with her kidneys.

Her parents said she was traumatised by the attack in May and it contributed to her taking the overdose.

Speaking after the inquest, her father Christopher, 49, said: "It was another big blow.

"But hearing they were not going to press charges against the man who raped her was the straw that broke the camel's back for Lisa. She could not cope with it." Mr and Mrs Burgess, who also have a son, Sam, 15, said her death had "ripped the family apart".

Mrs Burgess said their daughter had won a modelling competition in April in Sugar, the magazine for teenage girls.

Mrs Burgess said: "She was so happy. She was always giggling and so full of life. She just radiated love.

"But after the attack she just deteriorated. She said it had scarred her for life and I think it turned her state of mind. She was very, very down."

Mrs Burgess said she did not believe her daughter intended to commit suicide. "I know my daughter would not take her own life. She loved her family too much."

Recording an open verdict at the inquest in Newbury, Berkshire, coroner Peter Bedford said there was not enough evidence to prove she had intended to kill herself.

"The issues that stand out strongest are the events of May this year, after which she suffered from anxiety, depression and possibly post-traumatic stress," he said.

"The words 'cry for help' have been used and where someone takes tablets, there is always a possibility someone will come and find them and they will be saved. That's a possibility I cannot rule out."