A WOMAN found dead in Darwen woodland had taken a lethal cocktail of drugs, an inquest has heard.

Desley Cookson, 59, of Cranberry Lane, was found by a family walking home from a night in the pub on woodland off Sough Road on July 10.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Mrs Cookson, who was studying law at the University Centre at Blackburn College at the time, left behind four daughters and a sister.

Speaking after yesterday’s inquest, daughter Janine said: “She was lovely and funny and had a good sense of humour.

“She was really kind and if she had it to give she would give anything to anybody. She had a lot of friends and is missed by many people.”

During a hearing at Blackburn Coroner’s Court, a statement from Robert McAvoy revealed how the man, his partner and two children, had been walking home from the Black Horse pub when they found Mrs Cookson’s body in the woods near the junction of Grimshaw Street.

In a statement, PC John Moore, confirmed he had attended the scene.

Daughter Kyley, with whom she had been living, said she had left home five days earlier and said she wanted to leave town to ‘sort her life out’.

Pathologist Dr Muhammad Aslam said she had near-toxic levels of several drugs in her system, including codeine from co-codamol tablets.

Coroner Michael Singleton said: “Given how she was found and the quantities of drugs in her system the only conclusion is that Mrs Cookson killed herself.”