A CARE home worker who fell from the top of a multi-storey car park in Swindon had a history of depression and attempts at self-harm, a coroner's court in Salisbury heard yesterday.
Liberty Ollerhead, who lived in Swindon but worked at a home in Pewsey, died from head injuries after she was found barely alive in the early hours of October 15 last year. Reports submitted by two psychologists told of bouts of depression and a history of disturbed behaviour.
Wiltshire and Swindon deputy coroner Richard Van-Oppen heard that 29-year-old Miss Ollerhead, of Plaza 21, Gordon Gardens, had suffered from stress and had made previous attempts to harm herself.
But a statement by community psychiatric nurse Elizabeth Baker paid tribute to the support she had received from her mother.
Miss Ollerhead's mother Nadine, who lives in Calne, and was the last member of the family to see her, was not at yesterday's hearing in Salisbury.
She said in a statement that her daughter had developed an eating disorder at the age of 15, which she had managed to control. When she was older she had begun travelling around the world.
"She was a funny and lively girl who was deeply loved by all her family," she said.
But as she got older she became prone to bouts of depression.
A passer by, Amanda Coles described in a statement how she found Miss Ollerhead lying on the ground at the foot of the borough council-owned Islington Street car park with serious head and leg injuries.
The coroner's verdict was that she took her own life.
heard a loud bang as she was crossing the car park of the nearby police station. At first she thought the noise was a firework, but as she drove past the entrance to Gordon Street, she saw what looked like a body.
She drove straight back to the police station, alerted an officer and returned with her to the spot where they found Miss Ollerhead lying on the ground at the foot of the borough council-owned Islington Street car park with serious head and leg injuries. She was breathing, but was not responsive.
After Miss Ollerhead's death it was revealed that she had been working at a special needs residential home in Wilcot Road, Pewsey for around six weeks, but had earned extra' cash by working as an exotic dancer at clubs in Swindon.
Tina Clarke
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