A WOMAN with a history of drink and drugs abuse, who drank caustic soda in a bid to stop her husband from taking a new job in Wales, died over a year later from the effects, an inquest heard.

Kathleen Mary Geraldine Halliwell, 43, of Sawley Road, Grindleton, had spiralled into depression after years of alcohol and prescription drug addiction.

She had taken overdoses on several occasions before drinking the caustic soda on January 17 2001.

She spent 13 months in Blackburn Royal Infirmary, where she died on February 17 from bronchial pneumonia, septicaemia, and an infection of the heart.

But recording an open verdict, coroner Michael Singleton told the inquest in Clitheroe that he did not believe she had meant to take her own life as the fatal incident was the latest in a long line of overdose attempts at cries for help.

Mrs Halliwell's husband, Anthony, told the inquest that when he first met his wife in the late 1980s he was aware she had had a drink problem and had attended Alcoholics Anonymous. He also knew of previous overdoses of prescribed pills and had she drunk caustic soda on another occasion, which had left her hospitalised for three months.

He said: "Over a period of time the situation seemed to resolve itself and she was a lot better, but she then fell in with a bad crowd and started taking amphetamines.

"She had a bad riding accident in 1994 and broke her leg, so she was incapable of getting around on her own for about a month.

"I was quite relieved as it meant she couldn't hang around with the junkies."

He added: "She then became very depressed and went to the doctor, who prescribed her Prozac.

Mrs Halliwell saw a number of doctors and psychiatrists who prescribed other drugs.

Both she and her husband worked as grooms for various stables in the area, but when Mrs Halliwell was dismissed because of her problems the couple had to leave their accommodation, which came with the job, and move to Grindleton.

He was then offered the chance of a new job in Wales.

Mr Halliwell said he found his wife in bed on the morning he was due to set off for an interview and she she told him she had drunk something.

He said: "Her speech was slurred, so I went in the bathroom and found a bottle of caustic soda. The bottle did not look like it had been moved, so I presumed she had taken a handful of pills. When I returned a neighbour told me she had been admitted to hospital."

It was discovered Mrs Halliwell had drunk the caustic soda but could not tell her husband why she had done it.

Mrs Halliwell's condition worsened over the next 12 months with a series of infections and on the day before her death a chest infection revealed a shadow on her left lung.

Coroner Mr Singleton told Mr Halliwell that from what he had said about his wife he did not believe she had attempted suicide. He said: "It must have been a wretched time for you."