A girl who plunged from a bridge with a friend in an apparent suicide pact tried to kill herself months before, a fatal accident inquiry has been told.

Niamh Lafferty, 15, and Georgia Rowe, 14, died after falling more than 100ft from Erskine Bridge on October 4, 2009.

Both had been staying at secure unit the Good Shepherd Centre in Bishopton, Renfrewshire at the time.

The inquiry at Paisley Sheriff Court heard that Niamh made a suicide bid at a care unit in Helensburgh, her home town, in July 2009.

Argyll and Bute social worker Adah Lambie said the teenager took pills and that a suicide note was found.

After this incident Niamh was transferred from the East King Street children's unit back to the Good Shepherd on July 28.

Ms Lambie said that when Niamh returned to the Good Shepherd, staff there were aware of the suicide bid. She added: "They knew Niamh. They knew her history of threats of suicide and self harm."

Niamh was initially taken into care in June 2008 because she refused to live with her mother Collette Bysouth, and wanted to be looked after by her father. However, he later said he could not cope with the teenager.

Ms Lambie said that after Niamh returned to the Good Shepherd there was an incident where she cut her wrists but that after that she appeared to settle down.

The inquiry heard that earlier that year the teenager spent three months until the end of June in the secure unit at the Good Shepherd.

By that stage she no longer met the criteria to be kept in secure accommodation. Her social worker wrote a report recommending that she be moved to the close support unit at the Good Shepherd.

But the inquiry heard that at a children's panel hearing for Niamh, on July 3, the social work department recommended she be moved to East King Street children's unit in light of "budget restraints and best use of resources".

Sheriff Ruth Anderson asked Ms Lambie: "Were you strongly advised by senior management in conjunction with all the information that was available to rec-ommend East King Street?"

She answered: "Yes."

Advocate Des Cheyne, representing the interests of Georgia Rowe, asked: "Were the decisions which were taking place at this high management level based on a true appreciation of the options available or were they just based on the fact that your local authority would have had to pay to send the child to the Good Shepherd?"

Ms Lambie answered: "I don't believe the decision was made purely on a financial basis."