Inquiry blames Good Shepherd centre over Erskine Bridge deaths

A fatal accident inquiry has found that the deaths of two girls who jumped from the Erskine Bridge could have been avoided if the care home where they stayed had taken greater precautions.

Niamh Lafferty, 15, and Georgia Rowe, 14, plunged from the bridge in an apparent suicide pact in October 2009.

Both girls were residents at the Good Shepherd care centre in Renfrewshire.

A sheriff said more staff should have been on duty and the girls should not have stayed near an unalarmed exit.

Lorna Gordon reports.