Troubled model’s death ‘a cry for help’

A MODEL from Ashbourne who hanged herself did not mean to take her own life but was making a cry for help, an inquest heard.

Simone Cara Linsell was found dead at her home in Yeaveley in the early hours of the morning of December 6, 2017.

Derby Coroner’s Court heard how Ms Linsell had a history of mental health issues, had previously taken an overdose and had been self-harming.

But assistant coroner Tanyka Rawden said that on the balance of probability she did not think that Ms Linsell intended to take her own life and that the situation “had gone wrong, no one came and no one realised she had died”.

Ms Rawden said: “She had taken a friend’s dressing gown cord a couple of days before and could have been planning something but she also had time on her own and ample opportunity to take her life when no one was there but didn’t.

“I am persuaded that she would have written letters to loved ones because she wrote letters and notes to people regularly and also she would know there were two people in the house who loved her and if they had known would have stopped her. She did not leave any notes.

“Earlier in the night, Ms Linsell was pushing her partner to give her medication and threatened to hang herself when he wouldn’t give it to her.

“It is a difficult decision but I find that she didn’t intend to take her own life, it was a cry for help and I conclude that this was misadventure.”

At the start of the inquest, Derby Coroner’s Court heard from lead nurse Sarah Scott, who was with the crisis resolution and home treatment team at Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

She said that she had first met Ms Linsell on October 15, 2017 when she went to her home to assess her situation after she had been self-harming and expressing suicidal tendencies.

She said that she talked to Ms Linsell, 34, and “found she was very calm and quiet” compared to a few hours previously.

Ms Scott said: “Her life had been quite traumatic. She told me about her modelling career, her addiction to prescription drugs and that she had been in rehab recently. It was clear she needed psychological help but there was no evidence that she was planning or intended to commit suicide.

“She was talking about wanting to get on with her life. I referred her to a psychiatrist and an appointment was made for her but she didn’t keep it. But she was not an acute case and she did not warrant being admitted to a psychiatric unit.”

Also giving evidence to the inquest was Ms Linsell’s partner, Clive Sharpe, who said he had known her since 2010.

He described Ms Linsell’s reliance on painkillers after breaking her wrist, sleeping tablets for insomnia and antidepressants.

He said: “We sought help from GPS and private clinics but these provided temporary benefit. She was aware of the issues and had overdosed on two or three occasions and threatened to kill herself on hundreds of occasions, stating she ‘would be rather dead than alive.’

“She had these thoughts but she always pulled back from them.” On the evening before she died, Mr Sharpe said he had returned to the house, where her friend Amanda Washbourn also was, and Ms Linsell was “ranting and raving” and so he took himself out of the way leaving the two women to talk in the kitchen.

He said that Ms Linsell went up to bed at about midnight but he told her to leave the bedroom because she was smoking.

Mr Sharpe said: “She returned about 2am and was calm and serene and very loving. She asked for pills but I refused and she left the room saying she was going to kill herself.

“I had heard it a hundred times before and did not do anything. Later I heard noise but it wasn’t until about 4.30am to 5am that I went for a glass of water and found her. Amanda and I tried CPR but it was too late.

“I don’t think she intended to kill herself, she was pushing it to the limit. She cared about her family and dogs and would have left a note.”

This view was also shared by Ms Washbourn who said she thought it was a spur of the moment thing to do, although she added that a few days before Ms Linsell had said: “Take care of my dogs if anything happens to me.”

● Samaritans (116 123) operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year. If you prefer to write down how you’re feeling, or if you’re worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org.

I don’t think she intended to kill herself, she was pushing it to the limit... she would have left a note. Clive Sharpe