A YOUNG mum with a history of depression hanged herself with a dog chain attached to a bracket outside her living room window.

An inquest was told that David Forster discovered his wife's body lying on the floor when he drew the curtains the morning after they had argued over 'something and nothing'.

The hearing was told that a full police investigation had been carried out and a post-mortem examination had revealed that bruises and abrasions found on the dead woman's head and body had been caused when the dog leash snapped.

The inquest in Blackburn heard that Samantha Jane Forster, 29, of the Cottage, Willcross Farm, Gisburn, had suffered from post-natal depression following the birth of the first of her two daughters in 1997.

He husband said she had developed dramatic mood swings for which she had received medical help. After the birth of their second child the depression was not as bad, but Mr Forster said there were still times when she would argue over nothing at the drop of a hat. He said Samantha would often say that she could not cope but he thought the things she said were just an expression of how low she was feeling.

On Friday, November 2, Mrs Forster had taken the children to a party at the White Bull in Gisburn and Mr Forster had joined them later. The couple had called for a Chinese takeaway on the way home and after putting the children to bed sat down to a late supper. An argument developed over the long hours Mr Forster was working as a builder and he eventually went to bed alone downstairs.

Mr Forster said that was not unusual and his wife had previously gone for a drive or phoned a friend or simply stayed downstairs until she had calmed down. He said he heard the back door go but was not concerned because they both smoked but always went outside to do so.

The next morning Mr Forster went downstairs expecting to find his wife asleep on the settee. When he opened the curtains he saw her lying on the footpath under the living room window.

Mr Forster said he could immediately see that his wife was dead. There was a metal dog chain around her neck and just above where she lay there was a metal bracket fixed to the wall.

Recording a verdict that Mrs Forster had killed herself, coroner Michael Singleton said it appeared that Mrs Forster had climbed onto a small wall before attaching the leash to the bracket and jumping off the wall. He said death would have been immediate and the leather part of the leash had subsequently snapped causing the unusual bruises which led to the police inquiry.

The dead woman's father, Mr Brian Garnett, said Samantha's mother had died of cancer when she was just 13 and because of that she had always said she would never leave her children without a mother.

"It beggars belief that she would do this, she knew what it was like to not have a mother," said Mr Garnett.

But Mr Singleton said it was his experience of similar situations that people react to a set of circumstances rather than pre-planning what they are going to do.

"I am satisfied that at that moment in time she intended to kill herself," said Mr Singleton. "I have little doubt that had she been able to overcome that immediate crisis, in the cold light of day things would have been completely different and this tragic event would not have occurred."