A 76-YEAR-old woman suffocated after "voices in her head" told her to shove a flannel down her throat.

Nora Golding believed new tablets she was on were poison and had twice tried to push tissue paper down her throat before the incident which killed her, an inquest heard.

Mrs Golding, of Weybourne Gardens, Southend, was voluntarily admitted to Runwell Hospital suffering from schizophrenia and depression.

The long-term sufferer of the mental illness had been hearing voices in her head, which she believed were from God and the Devil.

PC Graham Crisp, coroner's officer, told the inquest that a few days after her admission on July 3, Mrs Golding had been seen to cough up a ball of blue tissue paper.

He told the court she was caught by staff pushing tissue paper into her mouth on July 25 and was restrained.

Two days after this incident she was found lying face down on her bed with a flannel shoved into her mouth.

Desperate attempts by staff to resuscitate her failed.

Dr Rajatnam Bhuvanendra, consultant psycho-geriatrician at the hospital, said Mrs Golding had suffered from paranoid schizophrenia with depressive episodes for about 25 years.

She had been treated with medication by injections, but these had side-effects and produced a visible shake, so when admitted to the unit, her treatment was changed.

The new tablets she was prescribed did not have physical side-effects and treated her depression.

However, the consultant said: "When she started her new medication the shakes were less, but she built up the idea that the tablets were a poison.

"The voices were telling her this so she needed a lot of reassurance that the tablets were doing her good."

He added: "She told me that the voices were telling her to force things into her mouth.

"We asked if she was trying to kill herself, but she said she was not. She said she had to respond to the voices."

Coroner Dr Malcolm Weir said: "There is no doubt this was a tragic accident associated with this terrible disease."

Verdict: Accidental death.

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