Eton woman died after taking lethal combination of alcohol & drugs — (Ascot Windsor and Eton Express)

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Ascot Windsor and Eton Express

13:43 Thursday 13 March 2014

Written by Philip Dewey

 A lethal combination of drugs and alcohol led to the death of a woman in Eton, an inquest heard.  Katherine Dunham, 44, of Tangier Lane, was found dead on September 25 after friends and family had not seen or heard from her for a number of days.

She was discovered by police in bed after a neighbour gave them a back door key and paramedics were called but there was no sign of life.

An inquest at Windsor Guildhall heard how Katherine had been attending the Slough Treatment Centre, in High Street, for alcohol addiction for a number of years but was showing great strides in battling the addiction.

Neighbour Judy Carr described vodka as Katherine’s ‘favourite tipple’ and said that she had remained sober for several weeks but had relapsed. She described Katherine as normal and not worse for drink when she last saw her.

Coroner Peter Bedford said Katherine died of a cardio respiratory collapse as a result of respiratory depression and pulmonary aspiration brought on by a combination of alcohol, methadone and mirtazapine.

He said: “This was an awful accident. What is so tragic in these cases is that when you look at the components she took they are not harmful on their own but the mixture can be fatal.

“I can see there is no reason to think she has done this deliberately.”