Son finds mum dead on day before birthday

John Roberts became concerned when his mum Susan did not answer her phone so he broke into her house in Birchwood.

When he searched the house he found his mother slumped next to the bath. She had suffered a subdural hematoma, or a blood clot on the brain.

He told an inquest that his mother had a problem with alcohol and would often lock herself in her house to stop him seeing her in a drunken state.

"She was ashamed of it," said Mr Roberts.

He broke into her house, on Rawlings Close, when she did not answer the door.

"The door to the bathroom was open slightly. As I walked in I found her in the bathroom.

"I touched her but she was cold and I knew then that I had lost her," he told assistant deputy coroner for Cheshire Jean Harkin.

Mrs Roberts, a former electronic solderer, lived in Woolston for 28 years before she divorced and moved to Birchwood.

She lost contact with two of her sons and developed a dependency on alcohol, the inquest heard.

"I tried to get help for her but she wouldn't listen to me," said Mr Roberts.

The inquest heard evidence from Mrs Roberts' GP, Dr Madden, who said she suffered from alcohol dependency syndrome, and some liver damage as a result of her drinking.

She had been referred to a mental health team by another doctor at the practice to help her with her drinking.

Her son told how she would spend most of her pension on alcohol.

The police officer who was called out to Mrs Roberts' home, PC Swainbank, said there were cans of lager and bottles of wine and vodka around the sofa.

Mrs Roberts suffered a massive subdural hematoma in her central nervous system, a report by pathologist Dr Al-Jafari said.

The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death and said Mrs Roberts died on or around October 20 last year.

She would have turned 59 on October 21.

It is impossible to ascertain what caused the subdural hematoma that killed Mrs Roberts, coroner Harkin said.