A DEPRESSED pensioner found dead with a carrier bag over her head had told her daughter she wished she could be with her late husband.

A Burnley inquest heard how three times married Shirley Blackburn, 65, whose death was described as "very unusual," had said there was no justice in the world, that she had a had a bad life and missed her partner.

Mrs Blackburn was found at her Macleod Street, Nelson, home by her daughter, Pauline Hodgson, on May 15 and died of asphyxiation.

The hearing, at Burnley Magistrates Court, was told there was no evidence anybody else was involved in her death, but some of her family say they find it difficult to understand why she would have ended her life that way.

Recording a verdict that Mrs Blackburn killed herself, acting East Lancs Coroner Richard Taylor said her death was very unusual and very distressing for her loved ones.

It had concerned him and the police who had investigated the circumstances and conducted a very thorough enquiry.

He said there was some evidence that Mrs Blackburn had been depressed from the comments she had made, although she had not been treated for clinical depression.

Mr Taylor said for whatever reason, and he couldn't say why, Mrs Blackburn decided she was going to end her life and the manner in which it was done indicated it had been a deliberate act.

Mrs Hodgson, of Bond Street, Nelson, told the inquest that her mother was depressed the day before she died, saying she wished she could be with her husband, who had died about five years previously.

The following day, she went to Mrs Blackburn's house around 10am, let herself in, thought her mother must have gone for her pension and so made a cup of tea.

Mrs Hodgson said she then spotted her mother's coat and keys and thinking she must be having a lie in, went upstairs. She found Mrs Blackburn lying on a bed with the bag over her head,

Mrs Hodgson said she used to go out with Mrs Blackburn at weekends, but the previous weekend her mother had seemed quieter, as if she wasn't listening to what was being said and said she didn't want to go out.

Detective Inspector Simon Leach said Mrs Blackburn had tied the carrier bag loosely with a neck tie.

He told the inquest that all the windows and doors at Mrs Blackburn's home had been checked and there was no sign of forced entry. There was no indication anything had happened to her against her will.

The officer added that there were no drugs or alcohol present at all in Mrs Blackburn's body and he had concluded there was no evidence of any third party involvement in her death.