A mother cut herself while at a mental health unit and was found bleeding to death by another patient in a car park, an inquest heard today (Wednesday).

Emma Butler, from Prestwood, was found with deep wounds to her forearms and had lost up to an estimated two fifths of her blood after being discovered late in the afternoon on March 28 last year, the coroner heard.

The 33-year-old mother had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act several times, after periods of self-harm in the years preceding her death, Buckinghamshire senior coroner Crispin Butler told the jury.

She was rushed to hospital after being discovered lying near a bicycle shed, by a distressed fellow patient who alerted a junior doctor to the scene.

The weapon she used, a Stanley knife, was later found in her handbag in the ward.

Ms Butler suffered from emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD) and had previously declined the offer a blood transfusion after an episode of self-harm prior to the most recent incident in the Ruby Ward of the Whiteleaf Centre, a mental health specialist centre and part of the Oxford NHS Foundation Trust.

Ms Butler was admitted to A&E at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury conscious but fighting for life and she sadly died on March 30, 2017.

A post-mortem examination found she had been in good physical health and there was no evidence of either substance abuse or third-party attacks prior to her death, pathologist Dr Narendra Mungalsingh told the coroner.

Toxicology assessments allayed earlier fears that Emma may have taken drugs or even swallowed anti-freeze in the days prior to her death, the doctor told the inquest.

However she had a history of deliberate “blood-letting”, the intentional minor or major loss of blood by self-harm, and at the inquest he advised that the cause of death was haemorrhage, caused by incisive wounds.

Emma’s mother, Deborah Taylor and stepfather Kevin Taylor, were present at the inquest and paid a moving tribute to their daughter in a statement read by their barrister, Adam Wagner.

“Emma Butler really was beautiful on the inside as well as the outside. She had a heart of gold and would help anyone when she was well enough to do so.

“She was warm, loving with a good sense of humour and had many friends…her children were her world and she loved each and every one of them.

“She is dearly missed.”

The inquest which is scheduled for 11 days, continues.