Pensioner’s body was found in Welland

A 77-year-old from Spalding whose body was found in the River Welland last year had taken her own life, an inquest has heard.

Janet Brighton’s body was found at Welland Yacht Club by a police officer hours after being reported missing from her Hawthorn Bank home on September 2, 2017.

The inquest at Boston Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, March 14, heard that she had dementia, Crohn’s disease and was taking anti-depressants at the time of her passing.

Janet’s daughters Joanne Whitehouse and Deborah Ward were in attendance at the hearing which they told Janet’s partner had seen her in bed at midnight.

When he woke the next morning she was no longer there. A note that had been left by her saying “I can’t take any more, look in the river’ was discovered later.

Pathologist Dr WSR Hew said in a statement that the cause of death was drowning.

The inquest heard that Janet’s death came just days after the family had asked Lincolnshire County Council to revisit after carers raised concerns over Janet’s domestic situation with her partner.

Janet’s daughters told the inquest that she had for several months refused to go into a care home.

They said they felt she did not have the capacity to make decisions.

However a mental health assessment carried out at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, where Janet had been admitted due to her Crohn’s Disease, did not find any evidence of cognitive impairment in July.

Lincolnshire Coroner Paul Cooper said of that report: “Nothing suggests that Janet lacked capacity.

“As she did have capacity, she was as comfortable as she could be with the living arrangement she had adopted.

“The family might be concerned with that but she chose to live that way.

“My concluding decision is that Janet died as a result of her own actions.”

Following the hearing, Deborah said: “We do believe if things had been done differently then my mum would still be alive.”

Jo added: “We appreciate there are limits with what carers can do.

“We feel my mum didn’t have the capacity (to make her own decisions).

“If she’d have listened to us she would still be alive and living in a care home.

“One of the worst things is my mum hated water. She couldn’t swim and used to squeal when I put water on to her head in the shower.”