A TEACHING assistant from Burnley who fought a long battle with depression was worried she might be made redundant, an inquest heard.

Jacqueline Gallagher, 51, who worked at St Mary’s RC Primary in Burnley, was also hit hard by the death of her mother, the town’s coroner’s court was told.

Her condition deteriorated to the point where she made an attempt on her own life and was admitted as an in-patient to deal with her mental health problems, Burnley Coroner Richard Taylor heard.

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But according to her family and mental health nurse, her condition began to improve after she was allowed home.

Louise Pickles, her community mental health nurse, said: “Jacqui was very happy to be home. She did find her in-patient stay quite a distressing experience.

“There was quite a bit of guilt about what she had put her family her family through and she was very confused about her symptoms and could not understand how she had got to the point where she had made an attempt on her own life.”

The court heard that a return to work had also lifted her mood and while she still had concerns over her medication, the last time the nurse saw her, there were no other symptoms.

Her husband Eric Gallagher, with whom she had sons aged 18 and 16, said his wife was a very private and family-orientated person, who was also close to her sister Debbie.

She had worked for a number of years as a dental nurse but had lost her job in difficult circumstances, which had caused stress, the inquest heard.

Later she found work as a teaching assistant, a job she was said to have deeply loved and enjoyed.

Mr Gallagher said that her emotional health began to suffer in 2013 when her mother died after a short illness. She was also concerned around that time about being made redundant.

The court heard that on November 13 last year, while her husband was at work and sons were in college, Mrs Gallagher’s mood deteriorated significantly.

Her father, Colin Robinson, was sufficiently concerned to ask her to ring the community mental health team for assistance.

While they were waiting for a phone call back, Mr Robinson decided to take the dog for a short walk.

But when he returned to the family home in Townfield Avenue only around 20 minutes later, he found his daughter hanging. Though attempts were made to revive her, she was later pronounced dead.

Recording a verdict that she took her own life, East Lancashire coroner Richard Taylor said: “Sadly we will never know the reasoning behind what happened on November 13.”