A WOMAN who was afraid to leave the house during lockdown and drank to mask her pain died from taking too many painkillers, an inquest has heard.

Amanda Doublard, 44, was found dead in her Brierfield flat on April 25, after police forced entry to the property following a concerned phone call from her friend.

East Lancashire assistant coroner Richard Taylor said, at an inquest held at Preston Coroner's Court, that five empty packets of co-codamol were found with several empty cans of beer. Toxicology was taken and a cause of death offered as codeine toxicity. 

In a statement from Amanda’s friend Kerry Jenkins, she said Amanda struggled with her mental health and was prescribed anti-depressants but refused to take them. 

She also suffered from fibromyalgia for which she was prescribed co-codamol.

Ms Jenkins said: “Amanda said the pain was unbearable and would flare up on occasions. She would also drink daily, mainly cans of beer. She didn’t like going out during lockdown either and phoned me on April 23 to get her shopping as she didn’t want to leave the house. I dropped her shopping off and she seemed fine.”

The following day Amanda and Ms Jenkins spoke on the phone, but the conversation descended into an argument, with Ms Jenkins saying Amanda had been drinking.

The statement continued: “I expected her to phone me that night when the drink had worn off but she didn’t. I tried to phone her the next morning but there was no answer. I rang again later and she didn’t answer and that’s when I started to worry.”

Ms Jenkins went to Amanda’s house and contacted the police, who found her dead on the settee.

The inquest heard how Amanda had spoken in the past about killing herself but that was always in an argument and she would later try and play it down.

Mr Taylor said: “This is a young lady who’s been prescribed co-codamol and has taken too many which has caused her death. There was nothing to suggest that she deliberately ended her own life but it’s impossible to say what her intentions were at the time, simply that she drank and took codeine for pain relief and took more than she could handle.

"Therefore I conclude that Amanda was found dead at her home having ingested an excess of codeine whilst intoxicated, although her intentions at the time could not be ascertained.”