A woman found dead by sheriffs as they repossessed her home had overdosed on painkillers, an inquest has heard.
The woman, in her early 40s, was due to be evicted by appointment from her apartment in Dublin 2 on Monday, October 21st, 2013. Dublin Coroner’s Court heard that when sheriffs entered the apartment, they found the woman, who suffered from depression and anxiety, lying dead in the bedroom.
Dublin City Sheriff’s Office court messenger Paul Gray told the inquest that he arrived at the apartment at 11.55am along with a bank representative and locksmith engaged by the bank. Garda Bronagh McArdle was also present to ensure there were no public order issues.
The sheriffs were there to execute a court order for the repossession of the property. Mr Gray said the woman was aware of the order. On the previous Tuesday she had asked for more time to get organised before leaving the apartment.
“It was agreed to give her until Monday to get her stuff together,” he said, confirming that they had arrived on October 21st “by appointment”.
Bedroom
Mr Gray described entering the apartment and seeing into the bedroom, where there was a person lying on the bed who he thought might be sleeping.
Garda McArdle said that on entering the bedroom she could see the woman was lying on the bed with no covers on. She was “visibly pale in colour and was cold to touch”, with no pulse detectable.
The dead woman had spent the weekend visiting her mother along with her sister, who told the court everything had been “normal”.
“I thought she was in particularly good form,” she said. The deceased had returned to the apartment the night before she was discovered.
Repossession
When asked by coroner Dr
Brian Farrell
whether her sister had mentioned the repossession, her sister said she had not. “I asked her multiple times, because I knew she was in and out of work, how she was paying it, if she was paying it and she was assuring me she had spoken to the bank. I had concerns. I asked her but she was convincing me all was fine,” she said.
Speaking from the body of the court, the deceased’s father said he saw her on the Friday before she died and she was “perfectly calm, in top form”. He said that, if anything, her demeanour had “improved” in the previous three months.
The autopsy was carried out by state pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy. Dr Farrell told the family that the main findings were in the toxicology screen. The woman had taken an overdose. Dr Farrell returned a verdict of death by suicide.