A FORMER schoolteacher died after consuming a lethal mixture of vodka, vermouth and methadone, an inquest was told.

Helen Parry died at Worcestershire Royal Hospital on Saturday, March 12, two weeks after being found unconscious at her home in Tetbury Drive, Warndon, Worcester.

The accident happened less than a month after a court judge told Mrs Parry she was “at the end of the road”.

Pathologist Kerry Taylor found Mrs Parry had an alcohol reading of 163 microgrammes per litre of blood – more than double the legal limit for a driver – as well as nordiazepan at “therapeutic levels” and 0.08 microgrammes of methadone in a litre of blood – a low amount.

Stourport Coroners Court was told that alone none of these would have been lethal but together the methadone and alcohol had killed the 39-year-old, who had no history of using methadone or heroin.

Paul Edwards – the friend who was with Mrs Parry at the time she took the fatal combination – later told police they had been drinking vodka and vermouth on the evening of Saturday, February 26.

Mr Edwards, a methadone user, said Mrs Parry was interested in the effects of the drug and they talked about it in the kitchen with another of the house’s residents.

He said: “She asked ‘what does it do?’. She asked in a schoolteacher manner – inquisitive.

“I said to her, look, this stuff is very strong. I said it will kill you. I was just letting her know it was very strong.”

The two then went up into Mr Edwards room where they drank then fell asleep.

When Mr Edwards woke the next morning, he found Mrs Parry unresponsive.

He told police: “She felt cold. She did not look right, her lips were blue.”

Mr Edwards then noticed his bottle of methadone that was on the top shelf was on the bottom.

He tried to revive her while the paramedics were on their way, but was unable to and she died two weeks later.

Coroner Geraint Williams said: “At some time during the night between Saturday, February 26, and Sunday, February 27, Mrs Parry drank the methadone of someone else and later died in hospital.”

He recorded a verdict of accidental death.