Woman dies days after overdose, inquest heard (From Bucks Free Press)

Woman dies days after overdose, inquest heard

9:30am Saturday 14th July 2012 in News By Rebecca Cain

A 62-YEAR-old woman died in Wycombe Hospital, after taking an overdose five days earlier, an inquest heard.

Kelly Hendricks, 62, of Butlers Court, High Wycombe died on May 6.

Coroner Richard Hulett told the inquest at Wycombe Law Courts that due to the length of time between the overdose and the death a post mortem was unable to reveal for certain she died from the overdose.

But he said: "If you put together the history plus the clinical information... plus things we could see... we end up with the overwhelming probability that this overdose caused the death."

Social worker Ana Pasquali and a Sevacare supervisor, Katrina Utley went to the house is Butlers Court where Kelly lived with her civil partner, Marion Millbourne on May 1.

Sevacare, which is a care agency, was carrying out a risk assessment of the property and Marion, as she had been given a new care package.

Katrina said Kelly went into the bedroom as they asked Marion a set of questions, and Kelly would shout answers from the bedroom, which they could not always hear.

Katrina said: "As soon as we got in there we could sense an atmosphere. There was something going on but nothing to do with us."

She said after a short time while Kelly was in the bedroom she came out quite disorientated and looking vague.

She said: "I just looked at her and said, 'Kelly, what have you taken?' and she said, 'Everything.'"

Katrina said she then went into the bedroom and saw empty blister packs and bottles with only a few pills left in them.

She said Kelly then collapsed by the door and she rang an ambulance. Kelly died in hospital on May 6.

Mr Hulett said: "I accept the reason she died must have been as a result of this overdose, albeit, that the process took a number of days.

"What seems to have happened in the heat of the moment, for some personal reason that is not discussed by the evidence, she was upset about something and she went into the bedroom and after a while there, sat down and took a wide variety of medication."

He said the medication was all prescribed.

Mr Hulett added: "I wouldn't return a suicide verdict.

The reason being this seems to have been done on the spur of the moment without being thought through at all. I can't be sure she really intended a fatal outcome."

He recorded an open verdict.