THE first time Leanda Painter’s caring partner left her alone after her discharge from a psychiatric hospital she hanged herself in the garden shed in Cranham, an inquest heard.
The 46-year-old mother, who had suffered from depression and had a psychotic disorder for some years, left a suicide note and then tied a three-foot rope dog’s lead around her neck and hanged herself from a joist in the shed in the garden of their home in Church Close, Cranham on April 9.
In a written statement the deceased’s partner of 14 years Nigel Gates-Cook said that since her discharge from Wotton Lawn in 2013 he had never left her alone.
“But I left her for the first time at 1.45pm and she said she was going to do some gardening,” he wrote.
“When I returned at 3.30pm I called her name but she was not in the house, so I went into the garden where I found her hanging in the garden shed.
“I tried CPR and called an ambulance but sadly nothing could be done.”
A police officer who was called to the scene said, also in written evidence that when he arrived he found Mr Gates-Cook in the kitchen in a ‘very distraught state’ and an A4 piece of paper in the shed.
“It was quite clearly a suicide note although it had not been signed. But comparison with writing by the deceased in an exercise book in her bedroom confirmed the same writing,” wrote the officer.
Medical evidence revealed that Ms Painter suffered from agitated depression and her condition had deteriorated since November 2013.
She was troubled by suicidal thoughts but had always denied she would ever do anything about it.
The inquest heard that she had concerns about wanting to get back into employment and some domestic concerns regarding others residing at her home.
She also expressed some financial worries.
Senior Coroner for Gloucestershire Katy Skerrett said: “She had struggled for some time with mental health difficulties and had intermittent suicidal thoughts, but had said she would not act out of a sense of protection for her daughter.
“But the first time she was left alone, I’m afraid she did act.”
Verdict: suicide.