Suicide of blind man's wife
A woman who was worried about claiming benefits for her blind husband took her own life by jumping from a famous Wye Valley viewpoint.
Gloucestershire deputy coroner David Dooley heard that Marina Nixon, 54, of Hillcrest Road, Berry Hill, Coleford, was found 50 metres below the Symonds Yat Rock viewpoint above the River Wye on October 7 last year.
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Her husband Peter said some weeks before her death she had been having issues about work at Glaxo SmithKline, where she had been for 20 years, while claiming disability benefit for him at the same time.
He said: "I am registered blind and I told her the claim was all lawful but she continued to worry about it. Then in September her daughter miscarried twins and this upset her a lot."
He said on September 28 he was at home with her and became aware she had been sick upstairs. It turned out she had taken an overdose of anti-depressants and aspirin with alcohol, he said.
An ambulance was called and she spent the night in hospital.
"After the twins' funeral on September 30 she was a bit down and we found alcohol bottles in the bin," he said.
Mr Nixon walked to a shop for milk on October 6, leaving his wife at home. When he got back the car was missing. He spoke to his son and they told the police because Mrs Nixon had not taken money, identification or clothes when she left.
GP Dr Terence Longley said Mrs Nixon had been having counselling and had not worked since her husband's sight problems had been diagnosed.
"She had general anxiety about her husband's health and was unable to cope with work. I think the trigger for the overdose on September 28 was her daughter's miscarriage," he said.
Detective Sergeant David Shore-Nye said the mother-of-two grown children was last seen at 3pm on October 6 and was highlighted as a vulnerable and high-risk person.
Symonds Yat was a short drive from her home and in a sweep of the cliffs in daylight she was found in a wooded area below the viewpoint.
Colin Grange, of Life-Work Services, said they had given Mrs Nixon counselling. He said she was distressed and anxious about her husband's illness but counsellors had seen no risk of suicide.
Mr Dooley said: "She was not thought to have been a suicide risk, but did act impulsively when she took the overdose.
"With regard to the background of depression and the method chosen tying in with the previous impulsive behaviour, I am satisfied she took her own life."
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