'˜Bubbly' woman found hanged at Derbyshire centre

Michelle Williams, 49, died in hospital after she was discovered suspended by a ligature at the Good News Family Care centre at Charis House, Buxton, on August 8, 2015.

A Chesterfield coroners’ court inquest heard Ms Williams, of Nethergreen Court, Killamarsh, suffered from a combination of depression, anxiety and alcohol problems.

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Her father, Eric Williams, described his daughter as ‘very friendly, bubbly and a people person’.

He said she lost her job in 2010 and ‘became worse’ and had contact with her GP, mental health services and alcohol support services.

Mr Williams told today’s inquest that Ms Williams ‘wanted to go into rehab’ and she started alcohol detoxification at the Good News Family Care centre in June, 2015.

He said: “She said she’d do something if she didn’t get off the alcohol - she was concerned she’d take another overdose.

“She couldn’t wait to get there (the Good News Family Care centre).”

Mr Williams told the court he subsequently visited Ms Williams at the centre and ‘she said she wasn’t really happy there’.

He said: “I don’t think she was totally happy with the people she was with.

“We asked her if she wanted to come home but she said ‘not yet’.”

Mr Williams added that he last saw his daughter at the centre a week before she died and ‘she wasn’t happy at all’.

Mr Williams finished giving evidence by saying: “She should have been somewhere where she could have got support for her mental health problems.

“She should have been admitted somewhere before she went there (the Good News Family Care centre).

“She was begging to be put away.

“She didn’t get the treatment she was begging for.”

He added that ‘we never saw Michelle affected by drink, we never saw her drunk’.

Dr James Johnston, a consultant psychiatrist with Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s Crisis team, told the inquest he had an appointment with Ms Williams before she went to the Good News Family Care centre.

He said: “She had a combination of depression, anxiety and alcohol problems.

“When I saw her, she said she was drinking four cans of 7.5 per cent-strength cider every day. That’s 12 units per day - men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis.

“Alcohol prevents the treatment of depression.

“Her primary and predominant need related to alcohol.”

Dr Johnston said Ms Williams’ ‘first priority’ was a rehabilitation place and added that she was in the process of having an assessment for longer-term mental health support.

Coroner Peter Nieto adjourned the inquest to a date yet to be fixed.