Stabbed herself through heart
A WOMAN with a history of mental health problems was found dead in a wooded area in Watlington after she stabbed herself in the heart, an inquest heard on Friday.
The body of Angela Sheaf (39) was discovered on January 30 by Karen Prior and her daughter as they walked their dog along Barnards Lane.
The discovery prompted a major police investigation between officers in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, who initially treated the death as suspicious before a post mortem report ruled she had stabbed herself.
An inquest at Lynn County Court on Friday heard that Miss Sheaf, of 25 Portland Road, Newmarket, had suffered with bipolar disorder, a form of manic depression, for 14 years.
Her mother, Mrs Primrose Bantoft, said Miss Sheaf had previously made attempts to take her life and had been to hospital as a result.
On November 29 last year she went to live with her mother but was suffering with depression and was suicidal the whole time.
Days later she was found half-conscious after taking between 50 and 60 of her prescribed tablets. She was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital, in Cambridge, before being transferred to Fulbourn Hospital, a mental health facility.
Miss Sheaf's partner, John Ashurst, a fellow patient at Fulbourn, said that on the day she was discharged he also left the hospital and they travelled together by train to Norwich, where they spent the night at a bed and breakfast.
But during the night she ran into the shower and smashed the glass before trying to cut her arms.
The following day they returned to Cambridge and Mr Ashurst went to hospital while Miss Sheaf caught a bus to his flat. It was the last time she was seen.
He said: "She was quite positive. I did not realise this was going to happen, I felt that things were going to be okay.
"We were planning to get married and she said she would be in contact later on."
Dr Christopher O'Loughlin, a psychiatrist with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Trust, told the inquest he discharged Miss Sheaf from Fulbourn Hospital on December 14 after she said she did not want to stay on the ward.
She was told she would receive high home support but left the hospital without collecting her medication. Mrs Bantoft was never told her daughter had been discharged.
A full investigation has since been carried out by the Trust and recommendations have now been made to ensure similar incidents are not repeated.
Greater Norfolk Coroner William Armstrong said he hoped lessons have been learned following the death of Miss Sheaf.
He added: "Angela was a woman with fine qualities and virtues but whose life was blighted by mental illness. It is a tragedy her life came to an end in this way."
Mr Armstrong recorded a verdict of suicide whilst suffering from mental disorder.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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