A CARLISLE mother who was found dead in her home last year had a history of mental health issues, an inquest has heard.

Jennifer Dixon, known as Jenny, was 47 when she passed away in her house on Kentmere Grove, Morton.

The inquest, held at Cockermouth coroners’ court on Thursday, heard a written statement from Jenny’s childhood friend, Paula Harris.

As a girl, Jenny attended Newtown Primary School followed by Trinity School for two months, before going to Morton Secondary School.

Ms Harris said that that was when she and Jenny had become friends. “I remember we would help each other with our homework. We would always walk to school together. We were like normal kids.” As a teenager, Jenny had a Saturday job at Spar on Petteril Bank Road.

Her mum and dad had a caravan at Silloth and the family would spend weekends and holidays there, Ms Harris added.

Following a spell living in Morecambe, Jenny returned to Carlisle. “She had numerous jobs and was always in work,” Ms Harris said. Her most recent job had been as a care worker with Cumbria Care.

Her son was born when she was in her late 30s.

“Jenny started suffering issues with her mental health when she lost her mother,” Ms Harris said. “She’d hear voices in her head telling her to do stuff. Family and friends noticed her mental health started to decline.

“She would try to manage the voices in her head by going to work. She loved driving and going out in the car.”

READ MORE: 'A hole in your lives' - Inquest into tragic death of 21-year-old

Community nurse Martin Bennett of the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Trust said that Jenny was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia after an assessment in 2013. She showed ‘erratic’ behaviour including leaving the house at night and hearing voices, and had episodes of psychosis annually, each one lasting a few weeks.

In 2017, she attended the Hadrian unit at Carleton Clinic as an inpatient, and in April the following year was referred to the crisis team.

Evidence was heard from the police officers who attended her house on October 20, 2021. After gaining entry to the house and conducting a search, they found Jenny’s body on her bed. An ambulance was called and, upon arrival, paramedic Tim MacDonald confirmed death.

A toxicological report was conducted by Dr Stephen Morley, who said that 500 nanograms of amphetamine per ml of blood can be toxic, while 1,000 nanograms can be fatal.

Jenny had 9,000 nanograms of amphetamine per ml of blood.

A post-mortem examination by Dr Joanne Leitch, consultant pathologist in Carlisle, found that the primary cause of death was amphetamine toxicity.

Recording a conclusion of drug-related death, coroner Robert Cohen said: “She had some difficulties in her life but had great affection and love for her son. The court can only be greatly sympathetic.”

READ MORE: 92 homes recommended for approval on historic site