A bereaved father told an inquest how he found his teenage daughter dead after she hanged herself at their family home.
Suzy King, 19, had returned to live with her family at Greens Road, in Eynsham, after breaking up with her boyfriend, an inquest heard yesterday.
The teenager, who had suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome for more than four years and had been prescribed anti-depressants in the months before her death, had been admitted to hospital a few weeks earlier, after taking an overdose.
Her father, Adrian King, told the inquest that he and his wife had adopted Miss King, who came from a troubled background, when she was eight-years-old, along with her two siblings.
He said: "Suzy was quite a closed book. She was a very private person. It was quite hard sometimes to get her to open up. She could be quiet for days on end."
Mr King said that she had seemed all right on January 1, 2006, the night before her death.
He said: "She was arguing with her younger brother about who would have the remote control for the television.
"We knew Suzy was down and low, but she seemed to have picked up since she was home. She was safe."
The next morning Mr King went to the loft where Miss King had been sleeping. He said: "I went up there and opened the door to wake her and that was when I found her."
The family later found two notes from Miss King dated the night before, one written to them and one to her ex-boyfriend.
Dr Ian Roberts, a consultant pathologist from the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, said that a toxicology report indicated that Miss King had not taken her anti-depressants for four or five days before her death.
Her GP, Dr Philippa Jackson, said in written evidence that she had seen Miss King on December 20, when the teenager had admitted that she had not taken the drugs for several weeks.
Oxford Coroner Nicholas Gardiner, giving his verdict, said: "Suzy took her own life by hanging."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article