"She was in one of those tricky situations where she was trapped I guess," Julia said.
"She didn't have a car to get around, didn't have freedom to go anywhere. She lived out in the country and couldn't leave boarding school. A licence represented freedom."
She had previously attended Havelock North High School but died soon after completing Year 12 as a boarder at Woodford House. She had moved in with her aunt in 2011.
Barrister Bill Calver, acting for Beth's parents Warwick and Annie Frogley, argued McLean, in allowing Beth to stay with her, was "undermining their parental authority".
McLean denied she had invited her niece to live with her and said she was simply trying to provide a safe place and had always intended to help reunite Beth with her parents.
"So you allowed Beth to dictate?" Calver asked.
McLean replied she had only allowed Beth to "have an opportunity to put across her concerns to her parents".
She refuted claims she was overly controlling, denied she had given Beth "a sense of power over her parents" and also denied claims she had used Beth's passion for horse riding as a "mechanism of controlling her behaviours".
She said she had never threatened to bar Beth from riding.
Julia said Beth had told her that her aunt and parents had used this as a form of punishment or threat.
Nikki Kaye: Time to have a conversation about suicide
Beth had sent Julia a text the day she died, which read: "You have no idea how much shit I'm in at the moment."
When questioned yesterday, McLean said she had no idea what her niece was referring to in the text despite telling the inquest the two had exchanged words after it was discovered Beth had contacted her ex-boyfriend, whom the family did not approve of.
The inquest heard the teenager had spoken to a school counsellor about her troubled relationship with her aunt.
Calver said a text sent to Beth from her aunt, which said: "You have five minutes to text me back or the door is closed for good", illustrated "precisely what the people are saying about your controlling and manipulating behaviour. It's a text someone who has someone underneath their thumb would send."
She replied: "She wasn't under my thumb."
McLean admitted taking money from Beth's bank account just two days after her death. "I thought she'd far rather it go to the equestrian team and did something useful."
In his evidence yesterday, Jonty Frogley said his cousin was "devastated" at failing her licence test.
"She wanted to be the first in her group of friends to get it."
The lawyer acting for McLean, Scott Smith, said Beth had taken the test failure "irrationally hard".
He said the fact she talked about it immediately before her death "seems to emphasise that".
The inquest continues.
Where to get help
Lifeline: 0800 543 354
(available 24/7).
Suicide Crisis Helpline:
0508 828 865 (0508
TAUTOKO), available
24/7).
Youthline: 0800 376
633.
Kidsline: 0800 543 754
(available 24/7).
Whatsup: 0800 942
8787 (1pm to 11pm).
Depression helpline:
0800 111 757 (available
24/7).
If it is an emergency and
you feel like you or
someone else is at risk, call
111.
See the Herald's full series 'Break the Silence' here
