Teenage girl fell 100ft from cliff in shock death chasing pet dog
7 May 2025, 12:26 | Updated: 7 May 2025, 12:30
A teenager ran after her dog that chased a rabbit on a cliff edge when she fell to her death, an inquest heard.
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Keeleigh Plant, 18, was walking her two pet cockapoo dogs with her boyfriend in May 2023 when Bertie ran off, chasing a rabbit.
Keeleigh ran after it, to the edge of a tall cliff at Hope Cove in south Devon.
The teenager lost her footing, or the cliff crumbled away, and she plunged 100 feet to her death on the rocky beach below.
She died from multiple injuries despite efforts of rescuers and people in the area.
"We were both trying to get them back. I was not close enough to grab her," her boyfriend, Oliver, said.
Oliver described the dogs off their leads when they saw the rabbit.
Bertie chased the rabbit, but they managed to get Cooper on a lead.
They both stepped over a low wooden railing near the edge of the cliff.
Keeleigh leaned over, a few feet from the cliff edge, to retrieve Bertie - and fell to her death.
She regularly walked her dogs on the path with her sister, he told Exeter Coroner's Court.
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Keeleigh, from Galmpton, Devon, was embarking on a gap year before studying finance at Winchester University.
Her mother Pauline said the teenager was "a private person and home was her safe place".
She said Keeleigh was a diligent student who asked for additional school work.
Police said the cliff edge was uneven and jagged.
The force ruled there were no suspicious circumstances.
A witness, sitting on a bench nearby, said she heard Keeleigh calling Bertie and saw her lean over the cliff edge.
“I did not hear her scream. She was not pushed," she said.
The area coroner for Devon, Plymouth and Torbay Alison Longhorn recorded an accidental death conclusion.
This was a really tragic accident," she said.
"Sadly cliffs are dangerous places and people try to rescue their dogs without thinking of their own safety."
