Nov 10
2
‘Bullying’ allegedly drove lesbian police officer to suicide
The Daily Telegraph – November 2, 2010
‘Bullying’ drove lesbian police officer to suicide
A LESBIAN police officer committed suicide because she felt she was being bullied by her superiors over her sexuality, an inquest heard yesterday. Lara Goldie, 28, felt she was “ostracised” over her appearance, particularly her short, spiky hair, while training at the Metropolitan Police college in Hendon, north London. One of her training officers passed her a McDonald’s leaflet and said she would end up working in there if she did not sort out the way she looked, while others warned her that her every move was going to be watched, Poplar coroner’s court in east London heard.
Two months after she qualified on June 13, Miss Goldie, who was also coming to terms with the break-up of a long-term relationship, hanged herself in the hallway of her London flat. In a four-page suicide note, she accused members of the Hendon training team of bullying. Her flatmate, Debbie Plowman, told the hearing: “Lara felt ostracised at Hendon training college and people had made inappropriate comments. She felt that she was the one who was being picked on in the classroom and that everyone was laughing at her. Many a time she came home and said, ‘I’m just going to jack it in,’ but she didn’t want to do it, she wanted to make a difference.”