Wife took her own life by hanging

James and Suzan Richardson had gone to bed as normal the previous evening but when he woke up she had already got out of bed.

Mr Richardson, a river worker, went downstairs and thought his 51-year-old wife had gone to the shops, but when he could not raise her on her mobile phone he became concerned.

After going outside their house on Queen Street he noticed the garage door was not locked and when he went inside Mrs Richardson was hanging by a rope from a metal beam.

He managed to get her down just before their daughter Debbie arrived home from a shopping trip and she called for an ambulance.

Mrs Richardson's husband gave her emergency first aid until paramedics arrived but they found she had already died.

Miss Richardson told the inquest: "I got out of the car and saw my dad who appeared to be hugging my mum. He was screaming 'she's tried to hang herself'."

An earlier hearing had been told Mrs Richardson, who was an assembly worker, had suffered from depression for about two years and had been receiving treatment from her GP.

Recording a verdict of suicide, Doncaster Deputy Coroner Fred Curtis said: "This is one of those cases where there is a history of depression for which she was taking medication.

"The only conclusion I can come to is that she got up before her husband and went into the garage and prepared a ligature with the rope and proceeded to hang herself.

"Her husband realised something was amiss but did not expect to find what he saw in the garage.

"I am satisfied these events were at Mrs Richardson's own hand. For reasons we shall never know, she took her own life and intended to do so."