THERE is nothing new about teenagers running away from home.

But when a group of schoolgirls from Darwen decided to run away last October it was to set in motion a tragic chain of events that would end with the death of one and leave another fighting for her life in hospital.

It was a wet, cold and windy night on Monday, October 8, when the four girls turned up at Sally Corkhill's flat in Sudell Road, Darwen. The downstairs flat, one of three in the converted terrace house, was rented by Corkhill who lived there along with her lover Lee Harrison.

Both self-confessed alcoholics, the pair had moved to East Lancashire from Blackpool about 18 months before in a bid to get themselves back on the straight and narrow.

Unemployed Corkhill, 41, had been disabled after an accident in 1998 which left her with an injured spine and nerve damage which meant she walked with difficulty and then always with crutches.

She was prescribed a variety of drugs following her back injury, including the painkillers co-proxamol and valium, which she kept in the flat. There was often up to a month's supply stashed away, usually kept in a bedside cabinet, but never locked away in a medicine cabinet.

Corkhill knew the group of girls who called at the flat but only by sight. Melissa Strickson, 13, of Tythebarn Street, was, according to her own mother, a tearaway who was beyond parental control.

In the term before her death she had a recorded attendance at school of just 22 per cent. She was also known to have smoked cannabis and cigarettes, drunk alcohol and bought valium at 50p a time from a man named in court as George Costello. She had been to see a psychiatrist but this seemed to have little effect.

Melissa's dad, Victor Strickson, said more should have been done to help his daughter, who he described as "headstrong and a little tearaway."

Mr Strickson, 50, said he had tried to get Darwen Moorland High School pupil Melissa taken into care by social services over the 12 months before her death.

Police confirmed that the family had previously been involved with social services although Melissa was not on the Child Protection Register. Corkhill said she had taken pity on the girls -- Melissa, a 14-year-old and two 11-year-olds -- and agreed to let them stay at the flat, although she first urged them to consider going home and, failing that, to contact their parents. The girls refused.

They had already tried to board a train to London earlier the same day but had been turned back by a ticket inspector at Bolton, who found they had no tickets nor money.

On returning to Darwen they had wandered the streets before deciding to try their luck at Corkhill's flat. It was a move that would have tragic results.

The stay began happily enough. The girls were allowed to bath and change before they went to bed and the next day they stayed in the flat while Corkhill and Harrison both drank strong lager.

Again Corkhill tried to persuade the girls to go home and again they refused. Corkhill said she thought that staying at the flat was safer than letting the girls roam the streets or trying to get to London. However, she was later to lie to both the police and Melissa's mother when she told them both the girls were not at the flat.

Melissa's mum Sue said she thought the girls had left when she entered the house. She said: "Me and Melissa's friend were banging on the door and when we went in the back door was open."

There was a lax attitude to smoking and drinking in the flat, both of which the girls did, and frequent talk of witchcraft.

Corkhill, a self-proclaimed white witch, had long conversations with the girls about witchcraft and even told Melissa she had the "aura" of a white witch. Corkhill later claimed her involvement with witchcraft had been exaggerated. On Tuesday night events took a sinister turn when Corkhill and Harrison began to argue. They had been drinking all day. Corkhill decided to knock out her boyfriend and mixed some of her valium tablets with a can of lager, which she gave to Harrison. She also later admitted she had given two of the girls half a valium tablet each to help them sleep.

But the real tragedy struck in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Most of the people in the flat were asleep, but Melissa and her 14-year-old fellow runaway were awake. It was Melissa who suggested taking the painkillers, which were kept in a cupboard in the kitchen.

The girl described how they both took vast quantities of co-proxamol and valium. Melissa was said to have swallowed up to 100 painkillers and her friend between 40 and 50 though she said she could not remember all the details as she blacked out and only woke in hospital two days later.

Corkhill said: "I tried to resuscitate her and shouted for someone to get an ambulance. I have no idea why they would want to take an overdose."

Melissa was pronounced dead on arrival at Blackburn Royal Infirmary.

Melissa Strickson was known to experiment with drugs and illegal substances. On this occasion it cost the teenager her life.