Girl's suicide over naked pictures

A distraught teenager hanged herself in despair after semi-naked photographs of her were circulated by a gang of public schoolboys.

Amel Guedroudj, 16, was devastated when she was photographed drunk and unconscious at a party. The pictures were published on the internet and also put on display in the sixth-form common room at Edinburgh Academy, where the boys are studying.

The bright teenager was unable to cope with the "appalling humiliation" and hanged herself at her home six weeks later.

Her parents, who have now removed their son from the school, today condemned the £12,000-a-year establishment for failing to discipline the culprits. Police were called in after her death and are considering charges of indecent assault against the boys.

Amel's mother Fazia said: "I just wish I had understood the depth of my daughter's despair. This used to be a happy family home. There was always teenage music and noise. Now it is silent. These boys know what they did was wrong and the misery they brought upon my daughter. And so does the Academy. But still we have heard no apology, no attempt to make amends - essentially no justice."

The teenager, described as bubbly and intelligent, was studying at St Margaret's, another private school in Edinburgh, when she attended a party on the fringes of the city in November. She told her parents that she was staying overnight at a friend's house.

Instead, she later explained to her mother that the party was "total chaos, with lots of alcohol", and that she passed out.

It was at that point that the boys reportedly started taking photographs of the unconscious teenager. She told her mother: "The last thing I can remember after passing out is a group of boys standing around me. Then one of them had his trousers down and they were all laughing at me."

Mrs Guedroudj said that after the alleged incident, her daughter was transformed into an "unrecognisable" distressed person. She said: "She was just lying there crying uncontrollably. Eventually she admitted to me 'Mum, I passed out'. She was so upset.

"Then the pictures of her with her top lifted up started being circulated by boys at the Academy."

The teenager, who was fluent in Spanish and French, sat on her bedroom floor crying and pulling out clumps of her hair, according to her mother. On 4 January Amel hanged herself in the bathroom. She was resuscitated after she was found by her older sister but died three days later.

Staff at the Academy questioned pupils and letters were sent to parents, warning them of their children's conduct following the incident, according to head John Light. However, no further action was taken as the photographs have not been found.