Jackie Mason inquest: Lymington woman died after being found at foot of stairs

A 54-YEAR-OLD woman with a long history of mental health illness died after being found badly injured at the bottom of a flight of stairs by her brother.

Jackie Mason was rushed to hospital after being discovered at her home in Bank View, Lymington, on 22nd May 2022, but died the next day.

A post-mortem revealed that she had suffered a traumatic head injury in the fall, and also had a lethal level of a prescribed anti-depressant in her blood.

Her brother Andrew, who lived with her, told an inquest at Winchester Coroners’ Court that he was sat in the garden when he heard a “thud”. He went to investigate and found his sister at the bottom of the stairs.

He said he had been living with Ms Mason for around six years to “help take care of her” as she had been diagnosed as having bi-polar disorder and had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act several times.

Mr Mason told area coroner Jason Pegg: “She had good and bad days. On good days she liked taking the dogs for a walk, going shopping, going to the church, visiting friends.”

But when she was on a “downer” she would stay in bed, refusing to wash, change her clothes, or speak to anyone, he said.

In March of last year his sister, who had previously taken several overdoses, had become a patient in a private mental health hospital and had later told him that she felt she had “come out too early”.

Andrew said that shortly before she died Ms Mason told him, “I’m fed up with life”, and he told her to contact her doctor, adding: “It feels like I wasn’t doing my job properly.”

But Mr Pegg told him: “I’m sure you were.”

Ms Mason’s other brother Douglas said his sister would say she wanted to go into hospital but then “practically the minute she got into hospital it was, ‘I don’t want to be here, get me out.’”

He said he did not believe she had intended to take her life, adding: “Her previous overdoses were a cry for help.”

In a statement, nurse Sarah Hibbert from the New Forest community mental health team explained she had visited MS Mason twice a day to give her medication.

She said Ms Mason was a “warm and friendly person”, but when depressed would “withdraw and self-neglect”.

She described how Ms Mason had ceberal palsy, which affected her right side and sometimes caused her to fall. On the day she was found at the bottom of the stairs she had earlier “expressed thoughts of not wanting to be alive”, but Ms Hibbert said Ms Mason had not revealed any plan to actually hurt herself.

Giving evidence, leader of the mental health team Stephen Rule said that a risk assessment meeting with regard to Ms Mason was held in May, and it was decided that she would not have access to any medication.

It was felt that in terms of Ms Mason hurting herself, “she was not going to do something today, or tomorrow.”

Giving an open verdict, Mr Pegg said Ms Mason may well have “stockpiled” her medication but it was unclear how she had come to be at the foot of the stairs.

He said she could either have “jumped” or “fallen”.