A patient hanged herself with a pair of tights in a toilet at a psychiatric hospital, an inquest heard.

Deborah Caulkett was found dead at Fair Mile Hospital, in Cholsey, near Wallingford, early on January 21 last year.

The 41-year-old, formerly of Celsea Place, Cholsey, had been an in-patient at the hospital.

Nursing assistant Deborah Hughes told Oxford Coroner's Court yesterday that she had last spoken to Miss Caulkett at midnight. She said she seemed upset after a visit earlier that day by her mother and three nephews, who told her about a new baby in the family.

She noticed Miss Caulkett was missing shortly after 1am and began a search. She found the door to a women's toilet locked. When she got the door open she found Miss Caulkett's body. Attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful.

The inquest heard that earlier that night Miss Caulkett phoned two men she knew and asked them to father her a child.

In a statement, Miss Caulkett's GP, Dr Elizabeth Walker, said she had a long history of mental illness. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1982, showing psychotic symptoms by 1984. She injured herself and took drug overdoses.

Consultant Dr Ceccherini Nelli said she was admitted to Fair Mile on January 10 last year and detained under the Mental Health Act five days later.

Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner was told that the cause of death was asphyxiation by hanging.

He recorded a verdict that Miss Caulkett took her own life.