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Leeds woman' s death in Spain was not suicide: Coroner
A CORONER has criticised Spanish authorities for leading a Leeds family to believe that their mother had committed suicide.
Susan Backhouse moved from Leeds to Alicante, Spain, three years ago to start a new life following the death of her partner.
An inquest at Wakefield Coroner's Court heard that the retired shop assistant had many friends in the complex where she lived but they became concerned when she wasn't seen for a while.
One of her friends used a spare key to gain access to her property and found the 59-year-old's body on her bed dressed in her nightclothes on August 10, 2007.
Coroner David Hinchliff said that Spanish authorities found undated letters addressed to her children and half-empty medicine bottles.
The court heard that when members of Mrs Backhouse's family arrived in Spain they were left under the impression that their mother had taken her own life.
When the results of the post mortem came back toxicology reports showed no signs of an overdose.
Only a small amount of alcohol showed up on the report but Mrs Backhouse rarely drank and it could have been in the body as a result of post mortem change.
A small amount of scarring around the heart was found and it is thought that this triggered a heart condition that led to her sudden death.
The court also heard that the case had taken a long time to reach this stage because a lot of information had to be sent over from Spain and then translated into English.
Speaking to her family Mr Hinchliff said: "It just shows how you never should judge anything on circumstantial evidence.
"It looks very much as though the police had made their mind up very early on when they found the letters and medicine, all of which was circumstantial evidence.
"The fact that you were led to believe that it was self-inflicted must have caused many hours of anxiety which I very much regret. I think that the Spanish authorities put two and two together and made 10. Once the results came through it was quite clear that this was not the case."
A verdict of death by natural causes was recorded.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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