A woman has revealed how school bullies jealous of her good looks left her so frightened and depressed that she tried to end her life twice.

Claire Leeson, now 24 and an aspiring model, was humiliated by bullies who called her fat and ugly for three years between the ages of 13 and 16.

In an interview with Closer magazine, she told how the escalating abuse – some of it physical – shattered her confidence but says she now realises the abuse was caused by jealousy and has vowed to move on.

Moved on: Claire, now 24, says she has at last overcome her three-year ordeal at the hands of school bullies

Shocking: Claire (pictured at school with a friend) was told she was too ugly to live by cruel bullies

Her ordeal began when in 2003, a rumour that she had a crush on one of the ‘popular’ boys began to spread through her Chelmsford school.

Ungallantly, he reacted by saying she was fat and ugly and his female friends – and many others – swiftly joined in.

After six months of abuse, Claire’s grades plummeted and she admits that she did everything she could to avoid school and stay at home with her single mother Lynn, 49, and sisters Georgia, 15, and twins Paradise and Chian, both 20.

‘They’d push me over in the corridors and throw rulers and sweets at me every day,’ says Claire of her tormentors.

‘At home I’d lock myself in the bathroom crying up to four times a week. I started cutting my wrists with a razor – the pain gave me a feeling of relief.’

Despite her mother’s horror at her injuries and a succession of fruitless meetings with her teachers, the abuse continued – and so did the cutting.

After a bully told her that she was too ugly to live and threw paracetamol at her in class, Claire had had enough. At the age of just 14, she made her first suicide attempt.

Tragic: Hannah Smith, 14, (left) and American Bart Palosz, 15, killed themselves after being viciously bullied

Read more: Claire reveals the full story of her bullying ordeal in this week’s issue of Closer

At home, she took everything in the bathroom cabinet, including a bottle of Beechams cough mixture, and collapsed.

Fortunately she was found by sister Paradise, who was then just 10 years old.

In hospital, she had her stomach pumped, but her ordeal still wasn’t over. The school bullies had also heard about her suicide attempt – and they had no sympathy to offer.

‘They said I should try harder next time,’ remembers Claire.

‘By then most of the class were bullying me. I had a couple of friends but they were too scared to stick up for me.’

A year later, Claire attempted suicide again, this time by overdosing on paracetamol while at a friend’s house.

Once more she was rushed to hospital and once more she survived. But there was no going back to school this time.

Despite managing to sit one of her GCSE exams, drama for which she received an A, she dropped out before finishing them.

Instead, she chose to pursue her studies at a local college before moving away from Chelmsford at the age of 19.

Claire got a job as a receptionist and started dating. Encouraged by her now ex boyfriend, she’s even auditioning for modelling agencies.

But, she says, although she’s moved on, teachers need to do much more to tackle the problem – particularly for the 50 per cent of teenage bullying victims who are picked on purely as a result of their looks.

‘One of the bullies recently messaged me on Facebook and admitted he’d always thought I was pretty but I ignored him,’ she says.

‘Teachers need to be tougher on bullies. I’ve moved on and I want to tell other girls who are being tormented that you will get through it.’

Read more: Daily Mail