A FORMER cotton worker who was found dead at her home had taken more than three and a half times the lethal dose of anti-depressants.

An inquest in Leigh heard how Mrs Doreen Baines, 66, of Twist Lane, was found dead at her home on August 26 last year by her daughter Sandra McCarty.

Mrs McCarty said her mother had seemed cheerful in the months prior to her death after meeting up with an old friend and had never appeared so happy.

Mrs Baines had taken a previous overdose of tablets in 1994 after suffering from depression, but had phoned for help from her family and made a full recovery.

Her 64-year-old brother Henry Delaney, of Dorothy Grove, Leigh, told the inquest he could not believe his sister had taken her own life because he had never known her to be so content or busy.

He said she had learned to swim, taken up yoga, lost weight, treated herself to a new tracksuit and enjoyed a walk in the park with him five days a week.

Whisky

The inquest heard that police found an empty box of tablets on Mrs Baines' bed, an unopened packet of tablets on the bed and a three-quarter full bottle of whisky on the floor.

A small hand written note was also found beneath a tray on the bed and paramedics handed police a larger note which they had found at the scene.

Mrs McCarty agreed both notes were written by her mother, but believed they had been written some time ago as they were not dated and one of them was faded.

The post-mortem report revealed Mrs Baines had a moderate degree of heart disease and a toxicology analysis revealed she had taken more than three and a half times the amount of anti-depressant dothiepin needed to cause death.

Mr Cotter said: "A therapeutic dose is much less than the amount needed to kill someone.

"At the very least Mrs Baines must have taken 16 tablets. If she was hoping to have been found she took a big risk. I think it was unlikely to have been an accident, but the family remains convinced she would not have taken her own life."

He recorded an open verdict.