A woman suffering from post-natal depression killed herself just months after the birth of her daughter.

Julia Staig, 35, was discovered hanging from a tree in the grounds of the Shelswell estate, in Fringford, where she lived.

She left home after an argument with her husband, Robert, over their baby daughter Lucy on January 5.

When she failed to return, police were alerted and the force helicopter was called in to help search for her.

Mr Staig told the Oxford inquest yesterday that he and his wife had been arguing because their daughter was not sleeping well. He said: "She came into the room and swore at me.

"She was very hostile and I pushed her out of the room. Five minutes later she said she was going out for a walk.

"It was not unusual. She regularly walked around the park."

Mr Staig said his wife returned an hour later but following a second argument she left again. He added: "I told her to leave Lucy to cry herself to sleep.

"I sat her down, I tried to calm her down but she was very agitated."

When she failed to return home the second time, Mr Staig went to look for her in his Land Rover. "I began to realise there was something wrong," he said.

Police, searching in pitch darkness, discovered her body hanging from a tree about 200 yards from the house.

A note was later found in the family home.

Consultant pathologist Dr Godman Greywoode, from the Horton Hospital, in Banbury, said that Mrs Staig died from asphyxia due to hanging.

Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict that Mrs Staig took her own life because she was suffering from severe post-natal depression.

Story date: Friday 12 March

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