ANNE Lowe can still feel the anger inside when she describes how bullies caused her daughter to take her own life.

An outgoing teenager, Kimberley hid her torment at the hands of the girls who were making her life miserable from her family.

On March 29, 1999, the 17-year-old, who worked as a kitchen assistant at Bishop Auckland General Hospital, felt she could no longer cope.

After listening to a series of abusive telephone messages from the bullies, the desperate youngster hung herself in the loft of her home in Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

It is two-and-a-half years since Kimberley's death, but Mrs Lowe still feels bitter that her tormentors walked away without being punished.

The tragic story of bullied Hartlepool schoolgirl, Elaine Swift, believed to have died after swallowing more than 100 paracetamol tablets, brings back the anger all over again.

"It is devastating for the victims' families, whereas the bullies couldn't care less. We were left feeling so frustrated because our daughter had lost her life and they were just carrying on as normal," said Mrs Lowe.

"They can still enjoy Christmas and birthdays, while we are left picking up the pieces.

"Because you are a mother you feel you should have realised that there was something wrong, but there were no signs with Kimberley, she was just her usual self.

"Every time you pick up the paper and read it happening to someone else's kid, you know exactly what they are going through.

"There needs to be some way of punishing bullies for what they have done."

Recognising the signs of bullying can be incredibly difficult and lead to parents feeling a heavy burden of guilt that they have "failed" their children by failing to spot their suffering.

Paul McFarlane and wife Jan set up Hartlepool-based support group Families Against Bullies in 1995 after their son Stephen was targeted. He attended Brierton Comprehensive, one of the schools where Elaine Swift studied.

The group advises parents to look out for any changes in their child's behaviour.

"It might be that their appetite changes - they eat more, or hardly anything at all," said Mr McFarlane. "They might become withdrawn and spend a lot of time up in their bedrooms or not wanting to go out with their friends, if that's what they would normally do.

"Quite often they might regress and wet the bed, start sucking their thumbs or become very clingy. The child might actually become more aggressive and start taking it out on their younger brothers and sisters."

Mr McFarlane is pressing for bullying to become a criminal offence to give the police more powers to act.

He believes bullies often know exactly the effect they are having on their victims.

"I certainly believe the people responsible for Elaine Swift's death knew what they were doing," he said.

"In my eyes, they actually put a loaded gun to her head and pulled the trigger."