A HOUSEWIFE who discharged herself from hospital after taking an overdose of prescription drugs was later found dead at her home in Blackburn, an inquest heard.

Louise Carter, 39, telephoned her daughter, Sharon Flanagan, of Accrington, one evening in July in great distress.

The inquest heard Louise had been having relationship problems and had been depressed and drinking heavily.

Sharon said: "I got the phone call and she was very upset and threatening to take an overdose. She was slurring her words and she was opening a packet of pills. It was a cry for help."

Concerned, Sharon phoned an ambulance but when she contacted Blackburn Royal Infirmary she was told her mother had discharged herself and had got a taxi back to her Rhyl Avenue home.

Sharon, of Ribblesdale Avenue, said: "I went round to her house and she was in a bad way. She was not coherent and kept saying she just wanted to get away from her problems."

The inquest heard Louise said she was going to bed and Sharon left. When she later tried to contact her mother there was no answer. When she went around, Louise was slumped on the settee.

A post mortem examination showed large quantities of painkillers mixed with diazepam, which could have sent her into a coma.

East Lancashire coroner Michael Singleton said although there was evidence Louise was very depressed, the call to her daughter was a cry for help. There were more tablets in the house she could have taken. He recorded an open verdict.