A mum found dead at the side of a County Durham road took her own life, a coroner has ruled.
Victoria Jayne Kipling, 53, was found unresponsive on a grassy area near Passfield Way, in Peterlee, on the morning of June 13.
An inquest into Victoria's death, held at Miners Hall in Durham on October 8, heard police had been contacted by the ambulance service at around 7.04am after a member of the public spotted what they believed to be an unresponsive woman.
Detective Sergeant Sean March, from Peterlee Police, said there was a "large police presence" and medical intervention, including CPR, was carried out but worked to "no avail".
CSI at the scene
Victoria was pronounced dead at 7.50am.
Pictures from the scene show three police vehicles surrounding a blue tent which had been erected on the path.
Police taped off the area around the vehicles, with officers seen standing beside the blue and white cordon.
The court heard she had been found sitting on a grassy area near bungalows on Passfield Way, in a crouched forward position, before being moved to a flat area near the roadside for treatment.
DS March described it as "unusual circumstances" for someone to be found in such a public place near a main road.
He attended at around 9am and made the decision to erect a cordon while police established what had happened to Victoria.
An examination of her body found "no evidence or injuries of third-party involvement".
Coroner Crispin Oliver added there were "no signs consistent with an assault or homicide".
Victoria had a mobile phone with her, which helped officers establish her identity and her address in Peterlee.
DS March said police believed Victoria had left the address before becoming unwell as a result of the combined effects of substances she had taken, before lying down and subsequently dying.
The court heard Victoria had a medical history of "chronic depression" and was known to the social services crisis team.
CSI at the scene
There had been previous involvement on May 24, when Victoria stated that she had "suicidal thoughts".
The inquest heard Victoria had "always felt very depressed" and wanted to be outside the house, which she claimed was "full of asbestos".
A post-mortem examination was carried out by Dr Cook, an expert pathologist at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.
The examination found a combination of substances in Victoria's system.
The inquest heard the combined toxic effects could have caused "significant central nervous system depression".
On the balance of probabilities, her cause of death was considered to be the combined toxic effects of drugs.
Mr Oliver said Victoria had taken a number of drugs which, individually, were not fatal but had ultimately caused her death when taken together.
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He told the inquest: "She had taken a lot of medication. The dosages on their own is not toxic but together they have ultimately killed her."
Recording a conclusion of suicide, Mr Oliver said: "On a balance of probabilities I have concluded it as a suicide."
Describing her death as "very sad", Mr Oliver told her family he was "really sorry they had to go through this."
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