A YOUNG mum killed herself because she couldn’t cope with the death of her fiancee just months earlier, an inquest heard.

Kerry Louise Lawless, 24, was found hanged at her home in Russell Terrace, Padiham, in April, only three months after her husband-to-be Andrew Davis, also 24, was discovered dead just days before the pair were due to marry.

At a joint inquest into their deaths, Burnley Coroner’s Court heard mum-of-two Miss Lawless took her own life because she was “dead inside” following her fiancee’s death in January.

But East Lancashire coroner Richard Taylor said there was not enough evidence to conclude that Mr Davis, who was also found hanged, had wanted to kill himself as he was under the influence of alcohol and did not seem depressed.

Mr Davis’s mum, Margaret Clarke, told the hearing that her son had previously been engaged in his late teens and had attempted to kill himself after the relationship broke down.

However, she said Mr Davis rarely seemed suicidal or depressed.

“He was quite charismatic, a character and everybody loved him,” said Mrs Clarke.

“He did not have any enemies. He was always fun-loving, a jack the lad.”

She said her son and Miss Lawless had got together three years ago and had planned to marry in January 2008.

But Mr Davis had left his stag do early and only a week later was found dead at his home by Miss Lawless’s mother, Anne-Louise Lawless.

She told the hearing that Mr Davis’s death followed an incident some time earlier when she had caught her daughter’s fiancee standing with a belt round his neck, apparently about to hang himself.

Mrs Lawless told the court that Mr Davis’s death depressed her daughter and only three months later she took her own life.

She said: “Andrew and Kerry were soulmates. They wrote letters to each other every day.

“We did not realise how close they were until this happened.

“Andrew’s death killed Kerry inside - she was as dead as he was.

“The last few weeks she just didn’t care. She had her hair cut right short, which is not like her.”

The hearing heard how pathologists for East Lancashire hospitals gave the cause of death for both as hanging and the pair also had a similar alcohol level in their blood at the time, around double the drink-drive limit.

However, Mr Taylor said he had “significant difficulties” in returning a verdict of suicide for Mr Davis because he behaved strangely when he was drunk.

Returning an open verdict, he added: “The evidence I have is that this was a young lad who had everything to look forward to. He was looking forward to marriage.”

But Mr Taylor said Miss Lawless had clearly committed suicide.

“There is no doubt in my mind that she ended her life because she could not go on,” he said.