THE impact of casual sex and relationship breakdown were lamented by West Somerset Coroner Michael Rose during an inquest held in Taunton last week.

Mr Rose had heard how 25-year-old former Debenhams employee Kimberley Thomas, of Winchester Street, Taunton, hanged herself in her bedroom after a series of relationships broke down.

The inquest heard how Miss Thomas had not been taking her medication for the depressive condition, bipolar disorder, at the time of her death.

She died on December 10 despite the best efforts of her friend and Debenhams colleague Gemma Richardson, her housemate Michelle Rysdale and paramedics.

The inquest was told how Miss Thomas had previously self-harmed and had made a number of attempts to take her life, but Miss Richardson described her a ‘bubbly’ person who enjoyed going out on the town.

On the night she died, she had phoned Miss Richardson in a distressed and drunk state saying the relationship she was in had ended.

At about midnight, concerned at her distress, Miss Richardson went to her house but by the time she found her in her bedroom, it was too late to save Miss Thomas’s life.

Recording the cause of death as hanging, Mr Rose said: “This is a tragic case, she had not started with the best advantage in life.

“It all comes down to the break-up of relationships. Once the rockbed of our society, they seem to have been stripped by vast amounts of the community to nothing.

“Sex and love are quite separate where in any proper society they are one and the same thing.”

Miss Thomas' mother, Tracy, has said her death could have been avoided with better mental health support - click on the Related Link on this page for the full story.

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