A TEENAGE girl found dead in a field in Sedgefield after meeting up with a man she met over the internet has been named tonight as 17-year-old Ashleigh Hall of Darlington.

The teenager, of Warwick Square, in the Cockerton area of the town, was formally identified by her family at 6pm tonight.

She was studying childcare at Darlington College, and was a former pupil of Hurworth School.

Ashleigh left Hurworth School last year after completing her GCSEs.

Eamonn Farrar, chief executive at the school, tonight described his astonishment at the news of the death of the "lovely, lovely kid".

He said: "I'm absolutely stunned. I heard it on the news and thought it couldnt be our Ashleigh, but then the news came through to my colleague.

"I just can't believe it.

"She was the nicest kid in the universe, you'd never meet a nicer kid.

"She'd always have a smile for you walking down the corridor, she was very polite and no trouble at all.

"They were such a lovely family, I can't believe anybody would want to do anything to hurt them."

Mr Farrar said Ashleigh had gone through the whole GCSE process at Hurworth and had completed a full range of subjects without limiting herself to one specialist area.

He described Ashleigh's wide friendship group and said the whole school community would be feeling pain at her loss.

When asked if he thought teenagers like Ashleigh were savvy when it came to forging relationships on the internet he said that it was not always possible as many youngsters were very trusting.

He said: "This shouldn't happen to anybody. We need to have a look at it and find out why it's happened and try to make sure that no-one else becomes a victim of this kind of incident.

"It's just too horrible for words."

Mr Farrar added that the school would probably host a special event for Ashley once pupils and staff returned after the half-term break.

"We will try to remember Ashleigh not in terms of her passing, but as a student at Hurworth, and one we were all fond of.

"She was a lovely, lovely kid," he said.

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