A YOUNG parent who overdosed on a cocktail of drugs didn’t know what she was doing, her mum said yesterday.

Elle-May Kelsey, 21, of Lyford Close in Drayton, near Abingdon, died after taking a mixture of drugs including ketamine on March 26.

An inquest at Oxfordshire Coroner’s Court yesterday heard she had split up with her boyfriend, Jack Jarvis, the father of her two-year-old daughter, two days before.

Speaking after the inquest, Miss Kelsey’s mum Carol Bowers, 54, a holiday complex manager, said: “She was a lovely mum and never meant to take her life.

“It was a tragic accident. She never knew the consequences and didn’t wake up.

“Isla-Mae was the centre of Elle’s life and she would do everything with her.

“I don’t think she realised just how much she was loved.

“Life will never be the same for anyone who knew or loved her.”

The inquest heard how Miss Kelsey had told her GP she had battled with drugs for two years, as well as depression.

However, Mr Jarvis said in a statement that Miss Kelsey had drug problems for 10 years. She had taken two previous overdoses on February 21 and two days before she died after splitting up with builder Mr Jarvis, her on-off boyfriend of 10 years.

The coroner was told Miss Kelsey saw some friends the day before she died and both said she didn’t seem her normal self.

She told one of them she was considering committing suicide, while the other said in a statement Miss Kelsey had confessed to trying to take her own life previously.

Mrs Bowers, who lives in Sutton Courtenay, found her daughter in her flat and said she knew she was dead immediately.

She said in a statement that she believed the overdoses to be “attention seeking” and did not believe her daughter had wanted to kill herself.

Police found no suicide note or evidence she wanted to kill herself.

A post-mortem examination found ketamine, the pain-killer buprenorphine, sometimes used as a heroin replacement, the anti-depressant sertraline and a lethal dose of the anti-depressant amitriptyline in her system.

Coroner Darren Salter ruled out suicide, saying she had taken the overdoses “impulsively” and was making a cry for help.

He gave a verdict of drug related death.

More than 230 people attended Miss Kelsey’s funeral in April at All Saints Church in Sutton Courtenay, the villahe where she grew up and her family still live.

Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS, SPORT and JAYDEN depending on what services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.

Our top stories