A 60-YEAR-OLD woman who was “devoted to her family and her grandchildren” drank herself to death, an inquest heard.
Jeannette Melville, of Church Street, West Grimstead, died from prolonged excess alcohol consumption after she began drinking a bottle of wine or more a day.
The mother-of-two was found dead at her home by her husband, James, on September 21, 2017.
He called 999 and paramedics rushed to the scene, but they were unable to revive his wife.
A post mortem found that Mrs Melville’s death was due to “chronic excess alcohol” and myocardial fibrosis - impairment of the heart’s muscle cells.
An inquest at Salisbury coroner’s court on Wednesday heard how Mrs Melville had battles with depression but had never talked about suicide.
She had also rowed with her husband about her drinking which was “quite clearly a concern”.
On a daily basis, Mrs Melville drank a bottle of wine and was consuming more during the night, the inquest heard.
Mr Melville said that on the day of his wife’s death he had not heard from her and came home to find their house in darkness, but this was normal as she would go to sleep in the afternoon.
But when he went upstairs to their bedroom he found his wife on the floor.
Mr Melville said in a statement: “Jeannette was a bit of a loner, she was devoted to her family and grandchildren.”
Senior coroner David Ridley revealed that Mrs Melville, a retired translator, had kidney failure five years before her death and was diagnosed with liver disease.
Mr Ridley recorded a conclusion of alcohol-related death, adding: “It is my view death was not immediate following her finding herself on the floor.
“It remains a possibility the alcohol use was a factor in her finding herself on the floor. Another possibility is she had some sort of cardiac arrhythmia.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article