The story of the final days of Worcester teenager Jade Tyler is a heart-breaking one.

Her body was found in a field. She had died alone and confused in the January cold.

There was no evidence of drugs or alcohol in her system, but the last few weeks of her life had been troubled ones.

At Jade’s inquest yesterday, her mother revealed that her 16-year-old daughter had been unable to settle at home. Instead, she had led a peripatetic existence, moving from a friend’s house to bed-and-breakfast accommodation.

Social services became involved. So too did the police, who found her dishevelled and upset after she had wandered off over Christmas last year.

On Boxing Day she was examined by a doctor at Worcestershire Royal Hospital and later by members of the mental health team. She was sent home in the care of her mother in the early hours of the following morning, but Jade slipped away into the night as they were leaving the hospital. She was not seen alive again.

We do not suggest that one person or organisation should necessarily take any blame for what happened to Jade. But we do suggest that all those who came into contact with her in the last few weeks of her life should meet to see if there are lessons to be learnt from this tragedy.

For it is clear that this pitiful teenager was in need of help, and that she was comprehensively failed by our society and its systems.