News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Camellia Cheshire was plunged into the depths of despair twice after her brother was “falsely accused of rape”.

She says that first her beloved Jay, 17, committed suicide after having “the life sucked out of him” by the allegation which was withdrawn two weeks later.

Then, a year later, their mother Karin took her own life the same way – leaving desperate Camellia to organise another funeral.

Today she tells how she wept as she picked out a garland of Karin’s favourite purple carnations to sit on top of the wicker coffin.

(Image: Sunday Mirror)

Jay’s ashes had been placed inside – so, Camellia says, “he and mum could be together”.

Courageous Camellia is now 22 and talks for the first time about an ordeal that tore her family apart.

And in a heartbreaking interview, she says the trauma drove her to the brink of suicide too.

She confesses the only thing that stopped her was knowing that a third death would destroy her devastated gran Ann, 79.

Tearful Camellia says: “When I saw my mum’s body I sank to the floor, screaming and crying, asking why this had happened to me. It just seemed so unfair. At nights I’d lie in bed and cry because I felt so alone.

“I’d already struggled with thoughts of suicide myself after Jay died and when mum went those feelings surfaced again.

“I thought about it many times but I couldn’t do that to my nan. It would have broken her.

“I decided I had to be strong and live for the family I have left.”

Camellia claims the girl who accused Jay met with him before his death and tearfully admitted someone had put pressure on her to make the false sex abuse claim.

Every day, Camellia contemplates contacting the girl in her desperate bid for answers, but hasn’t yet because she fears the effect it would have on her own mental health.

Camellia goes on: “It’s so hard to accept that if it hadn’t been for the rape investigation Mum and Jay would still be here. I’ve lost my whole world.

“The girl met with Jay before he died and said someone had forced her to say such horrible things about him, but the life had already been sucked out of him.”

The family’s ordeal began in summer 2015 when the girl went to police.

Jay, who suffered depression as a child, attended a voluntary interview with Camellia by his side. He was never charged and the allegation was withdrawn after two weeks – though Jay did not find that out until much later.

Camellia recalls the ordeal of watching Jay “sitting in a police station being questioned like he was a serial sex offender”. She says: “I broke down seeing him break down. I was so protective of him and he was so sensitive.

“After that night, he was never the same person. I’d hear him crying himself to sleep every night – big, bellowing sobs. It broke my heart.

“It was only when my mum contacted the police that we were told the allegations had been withdrawn.

“Jay eventually got a letter but seeing the word ‘rape’ next to his name plunged him even further into turmoil.”

Six weeks later, barmaid Camellia was rushing out to work in Southampton and didn’t say goodbye properly to Jay. She bitterly regrets not answering phone calls he made to her during her shift. She explains: “Our last conversation was really horrible. I was stressing because I was late and he wanted to show me a silly video about kittens.

“I didn’t say goodbye or give him a hug because I had to leave for work. Then he called three times but I couldn’t answer because I was working. Now I realise he was probably going to say goodbye, or tell me he loved me.

“Next morning, there was a knock at the door and I heard my mum scream. She came into my room, tears streaming, and said Jay had hanged himself.”

A passerby found him in a local park and paramedics had restarted his heart.

But he had permanent brain damage and two days later Karin made the heartbreaking decision to switch off his life support.

Camellia adds: “The night before he died, I spent four hours lying next to him while Mum slept. It was horrible to think we hadn’t had a proper goodbye.

“The family all gathered at his bedside. I held his left hand and Mum his right. He squeezed my hand really tightly just before the end. Doctors might say it was a spasm but I like to think it was his way of saying goodbye. Then I put my ear to his chest as his heart slowly stopped beating and the colour drained from his face.”

The ordeal plunged Karin, who had bipolar disorder, into turmoil and she had a nervous breakdown five days later.

She spent six months in ­psychiatric units while Camellia was left to cope with her grief alone – and live on her own for the first time.

She says: “It was like I’d already lost Mum as well as Jay. We’d been so close. She was so kind. She was my best friend but she started to say really hurtful things. The worst moment was when she told me she wished it had been me instead of Jay. I knew it was the illness speaking but it still killed me.” Karin, who was separated from her children’s father, was released from hospital in early 2016 but was never her old self again.

The family fear mental health workers did not correctly identify the risk that she posed to herself.

Camellia begged several times for her mum to be sectioned, but to no avail. The stress was so great that Camellia moved out, temporarily.

Karin fell into debt and looked for a new home to share with Camellia. But she could not beat her demons.

(Image: Sunday Mirror)

Camellia recalls sadly: “The day before she died she told me I needed to clear out my room but I didn’t understand why she was in a rush. Now I realise it was because she planned to kill herself.

“She was stressing me out and I started to cry when she asked what I’d do if she died in her sleep or had a heart attack.

“When I left, she was on the sofa crying. She gave me a hug but it wasn’t like we normally hugged and she shut the door on me more quickly than she’d ever done before.”

Next day, police broke the harrowing news that Karin was dead. Camellia said: “I screamed so loudly. I demanded to see my mum. I lay by her body screaming and crying.”

Camellia is now sharing her story in the hope other suicidal people will seek help.

She says: “I never want anyone else to feel this pain. I hope one day I have the strength to seek the answers I need, but I’m not sure if I could handle the truth at the moment.

“Whatever Jay’s accuser says will not bring either of them back.”