GAIA Pope died as a result of her mental health and mental state and her not being referred to the community mental heath team, a jury has found.

Miss Pope, 19, first went missing on November 7, 2017 in Swanage and was found 11 days later in undergrowth on a clifftop near Dancing Ledge.

Following a 12-week inquest at Bournemouth Town Hall, the jury found her mental health and mental state “caused or contributed” to her death.

Read more: Gaia Pope inquest: Everything we've learnt over last 12 weeks

The jury found the teenager was likely to have died between 3.59pm on November 7, 2017 and 10am the following day.

They found her mental health was complicated by her epilepsy and her diagnoses of PTSD.

Jurors also said her use of cannabis could have contributed to her death, but less so than her mental health and mental state on the day she went missing.

Furthermore, jurors found Miss Pope not being referred to the community mental health team or the crisis team contributed to her death.

The court also heard how jurors noted that chief constable of Dorset Police, Scott Chilton, accepted a number of failings. 

He accepted Miss Pope should have been reported as a missing person when her aunt Talia Pope phoned at 4.26pm on November 7, not nearly three hours later.

The chief constable also accepted Miss Pope should have been a high-risk missing person, the court heard.

READ MORE: Gaia Pope inquest: Family pay moving tribute in video

Dorset Police’s response in the first 24 to 48 hours of Miss Pope missing was deficient and disorganised and lacked clear structure,” the jury foreman said.

“Proper leadership and focus would have provided an opportunity of oversight of the investigation at an earlier stage.”

The jury found these failings, however, did not cause or contribute to Miss Pope’s death.

They also found failings from the Dorset Healthcare NHS Trust to communicate with epilepsy teams following a mental health act assessment, these also didn’t contribute to her death, they said.

The foreman added: “The jury would like to offer our sincerest of condolences. Gaia Pope’s death touched us all during this inquest.”