Woman cleared as low risk before taking her own life

A woman found unconscious in the early hours had taken her own life, a coroner ruled.

Mya McCosh was discovered by her husband, Shayne, in the bathroom of their London Road home.

Although the 41-year-old had a history of mental health issues and self-harm, the inquest heard her GP and mental health nurse had both noted she was in better spirits in the months leading up to her death, and was determined to be low-risk.

At the hearing at Archbishop’s Palace, it was explained Mr McCosh had been woken in the early hours of Sunday, March 5, to the noise of a radio playing loud music. He got out of bed and found the radio outside the bathroom door, which was locked.

Using a set of steps, Mr McCosh looked through a pane of glass above the door and saw his wife lying in the bath, with water up to her chin.

He forced entry to the room and drained the water, but his wife was unresponsive.

Emergency services were called, but attempts to resuscitate the voluntary worker failed.

She was pronounced dead shortly before 6am.

A post-mortem determined that she had died from respiratory failure due to pulmonary aspiration and a multiple drug overdose.

Katrina Hepburn, assistant coroner for Mid-Kent and Medway, ruled that as Mrs McCosh had locked herself in the bathroom and a number of notes had been found in the house, her death was a deliberate act.

Ms Hepburn gave a finding of suicide.

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