A young woman who died after falling from a multi-storey car park was suffering from depression.
Meltham woman Sarah Mulcahy, described as “a bright, lovely and witty” 24-year-old with a passion for reading, fell from the Queensgate Market Hall car park on February 9 after driving there in her boyfriend’s car.
She texted him just before the incident, an inquest at Huddersfield Coroner's Court heard.
Miss Mulcahy, an administration assistant at Morrisons supermarket in Meltham and a former Honley High School pupil, died at Leeds General Infirmary the following day due to multiple injuries, including a brain injury and liver damage.
She had recently obtained a 2:1 English Literature degree from the University of Huddersfield and was studying an online Teaching English as a Foreign Language course with a plan to teach in Thailand.
But she had reported her health to her doctor in May 2013 and was plagued with bouts of low mood, suicidal thoughts and self harming.
She received help from the Home Crisis Team, who prescribed her medication, gave her access to a 24-hour helpline, made regular visits and calls and enrolled her on to group Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) classes.
This was on top of being put in contact with her local single access medical team following an attempted suicide bid in June 2013.
However, that, plus a change in her medication in January 2014 and a demand for a review into her situation by her mum Penny Kaye in September 2014 failed to resolve the underlying reasons behind her depression.
Talking about the illness, Mrs Kaye, who supported her daughter along with Miss Mulcahy’s boyfriend Jamie Potter, said: “I was in shock - I had no idea that she was depressed and was really upset.
“She was confident, bright and had a happy front.
“She didn’t take an active role in her group CBT and said she thought she’d feel more comfortable in one-to-one sessions.
“I rang her during the day to make sure she was active but went to see her doctor to ask for a review.
“She had a psychotic episode but the crisis team could not find her a bed and we felt badly let down. I stopped going out apart from to work to be with her.”
An investigation into her care by independent investigators for South West Yorkshire Mental Health Partnership Trust found that there had been “missed opportunities”.
It suggested professionals involved could have done more to address unresolved issues and to explore research into suicide methods which she had talked about to them.
Ruling on the cause of Miss Mulcahy’s death, assistant coroner Mary Burke, said that she died due to multiple injuries caused by suicide.
She said: “There have been various references to missed opportunities to do further assessments and I believe a planning event for staff involved in her care has been planned or taken place.”
