"Unhappy Tale" of PR Executive's Suicide by Hammersmith Bridge
Inquest hears Anna Sargent drowned after leaving Charing Cross Hospital
An inquest has heard details about the death of PR executive Anna Sargent whose body was found near Hammersmith Bridge last year.
Ms Sargent, 36, from Chiswick had become dependent on the drug Baclofen which she purchased online in a bid to tackle her alcoholism.
She had last been seen alive in September 2012 as she left Charing Cross Hospital where she was being treated for anxiety attacks. Prior to that she had been a patient at the Priory Hospital where she was admitted following an overdose of the drug Baclofen.
During her PR career she had worked for the BBC and other large corporations including TV channel Fox Kids Europe.
Police launched an appeal for information after she went missing. Her body was found eight days later on September 18.
Returning a verdict of suicide, coroner Sean Cummings called on the Priory to improve its communication with patients' families.
" The medical cause of her death is drowning," he said. " Ms Sargent had a history of depression for her teenage years and struggled with alcohol use and was desperate to stopping using alcohol.
" She researched online and discovered baclofen had some notoriety for the helping of alcohol dependency. She eventually overdosed on baclofen and was admitted to the Priory for detoxification and on September 18 2012 took her own life.
"'This has been a very unhappy tale - Ms Sargent was a beautiful girl and she clearly loved her family."
Her parents have also criticised staff at the Priory for the way their daughter's treatment was managed during her withdrawal from the drug.
They said that Anna had had an idyllic childhood in the Kentish countryside riding her pony Candy.
After school and university she had developed a successful career in PR, working with law and property firms, which enabled her to buy her own flat and provide a home for her cat Abbi.
Her parents said: "Despite having loyal friends and a loving and supportive family it was not enough to meet the challenges she faced caused by her mental ill health.
"In her endless quest to find a cure for her depression and misuse of alcohol, she discovered the drug Baclofen. Because of the mismanagement of withdrawing from this inappropriate drug, she took her own life.
" She is now at peace but we are bereft."
July 11, 2013
