A young Conservative political campaigner posted a string of sex assault allegations that she timed to be tweeted after she killed herself.
Jade Smith, 21, was found dead on Sunday near her home in Saltburn , Teesside.
She was well-known, having appeared on BBC’s The Mighty Redcar and as she had an ‘I loveBoris Johnson‘ tattoo on her leg, which she got done during a night out in Crete.
A series of tweets appeared yesterday during the Prime Minister’s address to the Tory party conference in which she made a string of allegations against other Conservatives.
She wrote: ‘There’s one last topic I want to talk about before I go and say my goodbyes.
‘And it’s about the Conservative Party. This is the last time I’ll ever have a platform to ask them to change, to beg them for young peoples sake to change.
‘Back in 2015 / 2016 I tried to kill myself several times because of the Tory party. I was institutionalized due to bullying and harassment I received. I was stalked by the press, the press stood outside my college with cameras.
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‘I was an 17 / 18 year old female who had been bullied. I’ve always received abuse for being a Tory. But the abuse we receive from each other and the older people in our associations is what takes it too far.
‘We shouldn’t have to put up with the bullying from each other. We shouldn’t have to be worried that our friends are going to be raped at conference or at the very least sexually assaulted.
‘We shouldn’t have to put up with creepy weird old men maturating over us or grabbing us to go and chat to their friends and try to take us home at the end of the night. There’s a reason we don’t feel safe at conference. ’
Chris Doughty, Director of Carewatch Redcar & Cleveland, where Jade worked, said: ‘I’m really shocked reading the tweets. We had no idea. She hadn’t put any history of mental health problems or anything when she came for the job.
‘I always want to help the staff to alleviate their stress. They are out on their own, of course they are under stress. ’
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Her local MP Simon Clarke said: ‘I have been deeply shocked and saddened by this tragedy. Jade was a remarkable and complex person.
‘She would be the first to say she had made some mistakes, but she also had real qualities – not least a fierce work ethic, a mischievous sense of humor and a passionate love of our area.
‘For me today’s posthumous tweets just reinforce the sadness I feel for Jade’ s friends and family and as far as the bullying and harassment allegations go, I know that the Conservative Party will take all of those incredibly seriously and will be looking into the circumstances surrounding this truly tragic incident. ‘
Jade was a pupil at Redcar’s Rye Hills School and Prior Pursglove College in Guisborough. She went on to work in adult social care and volunteered as a leader at Rainbows and Brownies.
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