Woolhampton woman died from 'cocktail' of alcohol and prescribed drugs

Heartbroken mother of 29-year-old Jade Davies tells inquest her daughter was "beautiful, kind, vivacious and bubbly"

“SHE was beautiful, vivacious, kind and bubbly.”

That was the touching tribute from a heartbroken Woolhampton mother whose daughter died after taking a cocktail of alcohol and medication.

Twenty-nine-year-old Jade Lesley Davies was heavily intoxicated while on prescribed medication for depression and a borderline personality disorder when she died from asphyxiation owing to an aspiration of gastric content on December 28, 2014.

An inquest into her death, held at Reading Town Hall, heard how she had been working behind the bar at The Angel Inn, Woolhampton, where her parents were landlords, the night before she died.

In a statement read out to the inquest, her father Victor Davies said he noticed most of the contents of a brandy bottle was missing and that she had taken a bottle of Prosecco to her room, but added that his daughter didn’t seem drunk and wasn’t slurring her words.

Tragedy struck in the early hours of the Sunday morning when her parents noticed she had vomited and wasn’t breathing, and immediately called an ambulance.

Miss Davies was taken to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, but attempts to revive her were unsuccessful and she was declared dead at 5.50am.

A post mortem examination established the cause of death as aspiration of gastric contents caused by a combined effects of alcohol, Quetiapine and Zopiclone.

Toxicology reports showed she had 257mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood – more than three times the legal drink drive limit – as well as prescription medication, cocaine and a small amount of cannabis.

Addressing the inquest, Vicky Davies said her daughter sometimes took double the amount of medication at night and occasionally used cannabis to help her sleep and may have been so intoxicated that she took her medication twice without realising.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Berkshire coroner Peter Bedford said he was confident Miss Davies had not intended to take her own life.

He said: “There is no doubt she had a history and thoughts and that she had a lot to drink on the evening in question, but there is no suggestion that this was an intentional act.

“The mix of alcohol and medication prompted her to aspirate and she died as a result of combining them. Jade couldn’t have known that she was going to be sick.”

However, the hearing was told how Miss Davies had sent a Facebook message to a friend saying: “Sorry and goodbye” hours before her death.

The inquest heard how Miss Davies had a history of self-harming behaviour and depression, spending five weeks at Prospect Park Hospital, Reading, following a paracetomol overdose in October 2013.

Friends and family had noticed she was losing weight and seemed tired, but had appeared happier in her new job as a nursery nurse and in her new relationship.

Paying tribute to her daughter, Mrs Davies said: “Jade struggled with her illness for a long time. One moment she would be up and the next moment she would be down.

“Despite all her problems and her illness, she was the kindest person. She would give you her last penny if she thought it would help you. She would help anybody. She was beautiful, vivacious, bubbly and loving.

“About 90 per cent of Woolhampton turned out for her funeral and that said everything about the kind of person she was. She loved to have fun.”