SHE was a grandmother devoted to her family.
But Mrs Susan Howe drowned in Huddersfield Broad Canal after a long battle with depression, an inquest heard.
Police discovered 53-year-old Mrs Howe’s body in the waterway at Red Doles Lane on December 15, last year.
An inquest into her death yesterday heard how the former cleaner and one-time factory worker had attempted suicide several times over the years but had been on medication to help her cope.
The court heard how the Sheepridge mother-of-six had in the months leading up to her death, been supporting her daughter Lisa Mellor, 24, who successfully underwent a heart transplant in Newcastle.
She had been helping to care for her six-year-old granddaughter but had found her depression had spiralled and she visited her GP in November 2011.
She had her medication reviewed and was signed off work for five weeks, the inquest at Kirklees Magistrates Court in Huddersfield heard.
But weeks later her son, Marcus Bennett, discovered a suicide note at her Sheepridge home and alerted police she was missing.
Coroner Prof Paul Marks read statements from Det Insp Mark Truelove, who said: “On December 15, I was the Kirklees on call duty inspector and got a call at 11.05pm to say a body had been discovered in the canal.
“Officers at the scene suspected the body was that of Susan Howe who had been reported missing.”
Her daughter Jodie Howe, broke down in tears at the inquest as she was told how officers had found her mum’s weighted-down body face down in the canal.
Prof Marks said Mrs Howe was taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary but a short time later was pronounced dead.
A post mortem examination determined cause of death as drowning.
Toxicology showed prescribed doses of medication and alcohol but both factors were ruled out as not causes of death.
The Coroner said he was satisfied that Ms Howe intended to take her own life for two reasons, because she had left a suicide note and because she had deliberately weighed her body down in the canal. He added: “The only verdict I can reasonably record is that Susan Howe killed herself.”
Her son Marcus told the Examiner after the hearing: “She had suffered from depression for a long time. It got worse when her mother died two years ago after taking an overdose.
“More recently she had been supporting Lisa with her heart condition and had been helping look after her granddaughter”.
Speaking of happier times, he added: “She was a proud and devoted Nanna, she saw her three young grandchildren every day. She was funny and she made us laugh.”
She leaves behind her grown up children Terry Mellor, Marcus Bennett, Steven Bennett, Deany Bennett, Lisa Howe and six grandchildren.
