Open verdict on pensioner who fell to her death

Aug 13 2008 by Laura Jones, Birkenhead News

AN OPEN verdict was recorded at an inquest into the death of a woman who fell from a window after telling doctors she was hearing voices.

Spital spinster Enid Williamson, 81, fell to her death from a second floor window at her home in Lancelyn Court at 7.30am on Monday June 9.

Miss Williamson had been “hearing voices in her head” in the months before her death but thought she had beaten her battle with mental illness, an inquest at Wallasey Town Hall on August 7 heard.

The retired civil servant, who was born in Tranmere but had lived in Lancelyn Court for more than 30 years, had been prescribed the drug Quetapine on March 26 after discussing the problem with her GP.

Her dosage of the drug was upped on May 19, but was then stopped altogether on June 3 when her symptoms disappeared.

Coroner’s officer Arthur Flower said: “She said the voices had gone, and she was described as happy and able to discuss her symptoms calmly.”

But Miss Williamson’s neighbours said they heard strange noises from her flat in the early hours of the morning she died.

Officer Flower said: “Residents heard bangs similar to doors or windows being slammed shut at 1.00am and 3.30am.”

Just hours later Miss Williamson was found dead on the lawn outside her home, her nose broken, her spine fractured and a key to the window in her pocket.

CID officers investigating her death found the front door of her flat to be locked with the security chain still in place and no other signs of a forced entry.

At the time neighbour Dorothy Pritchard, said: “It’s a mystery as to what happened.

“She was a very nice, quiet woman and her death has upset many people living here.”

The coroner said: “There is no evidence to indicate that the deceased had meaningfully or deliberately jumped from the balcony to end her life.”

However, in the absence of witnesses or clearer information about Miss Williamson's final moments an open verdict was recorded.