An Iwade woman died after she accidentally took an overdose of tablets prescribed for her back pain, an inquest has ruled.

Deborah Bradford, 49, was found on the floor at the bottom of the bed by her partner Stephen Acott. A post mortem revealed the cause of death was morphine poisoning.

Det Sgt Lee Neiles described the scene when he arrived at the house in Sheerstone on November 27 last year.

He said: “There was evidence of medication in the form of tablets scattered over the bedroom.

“From memory, they were on a bedside cabinet.

“There were empty capsules and capsules inside a mug and on a dressing table, and on the floor.

“There was no note.”

The hearing, held at Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone, heard Mrs Bradford and Mr Acott, who had lived together for about two months, had an argument after she returned from a weekend away, 24 hours before she died.

Det Sgt Neiles added: “She had threatened to drive her vehicle off a bridge.

“There is a bridge within a mile of the location [the Sheppey bridge] but it’s not clear if she was talking about that bridge.

“There was a fair amount of alcohol consumed and after that comment was made she took a substantial amount of her medication.

“There’s no indication of any third party involvement.

“In fact, Mr Acott called the paramedics at the time and asked for help.

“She soon came around and started walking about and she declined the ambulance service. I don’t believe they attended.”

“It’s clear to me Deborah Bradford died as a consequence of ingesting a large number of morphine tablets prescribed for her back pain" - coroner Andrew Campbell-Tiech

Mr Acott said his partner had drunk about three bottles of wine that night and he took her threat so seriously that he took her car keys.

She went to bed about 2am and he slept downstairs.

When he woke on Monday he took Mrs Bradford’s son to school, came home and made her a cup of tea, which she drank.

That night he slept downstairs again. It was when he took her tea and toast the following morning he found her dead.

When asked by coroner Andrew Campbell-Tiech QC if he knew she had taken a large amount of pills, he replied: “I suspected it when I couldn’t wake her up.”

Mr Campbell-Tiech said: “It’s clear to me Deborah Bradford died as a consequence of ingesting a large number of morphine tablets prescribed for her back pain.

“I’m confident that when she did so she didn’t intend to take her life.”

He recorded a verdict of accidental death.