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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Damon Wilkinson & Neil Shaw

Woman found with apparent suicide note did not kill herself, inquest rules

A woman with a history of depression found dead in her bedroom with a suicide not nearby did not take her own life, a coroner has ruled.

Graduate Arina Vaisvilaite was found face down in her bedroom by her flatmate on April 12 last year with an apparent suicide note on top of a pile of papers on a desk close by.

Ms Vaisvilaite, 25, had a history of depression; had told friends she was undergoing therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder; had recently gone through a relationship break-up; and had previously spoken of suicide, reports MEN.

But, there were no signs of self-harm or of a drugs overdose.

Ms Vaisvilaite, who was originally from Lithuania and worked on a temporary basis for the Information Commissioner's Office, died due to serious complications of undiagnosed diabetes which caused a 'sudden and acute cardiac arrest', the inquest heard.

Senior coroner Nigel Meadows described the graduate's death as a 'very strange and unusual case'.

The inquest heard Ms Vaisvilaite came to the UK around 2014 to study at Leeds University, but dropped out and returned to Lithuania.

She returned to the UK to study history at Kings College in London, before going on to study sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University, graduating with a first-class honours degree in September 2020.

After leaving university, she began temping at the Information Commissioner's Office.

The inquest heard she had a history of mental health problems and had been undergoing therapy for what she described to friends as post-traumatic stress disorder linked to flashbacks she was having to incidents of her parents arguing during childhood.

She had also broken up with her boyfriend two months before her death.

Ms Vaisvilaite's flatmate told the inquest the pair moved in together in January 2021.

On the morning of Monday, April 12, the flatmate became concerned when Ms Vaisvilaite wasn't at breakfast.

She entered Ms Vaisvilaite's bedroom and found her face down on the floor. Police and paramedics were called and arrived a short time later.

Police found a note in Ms Vaisvilaite's handwriting, which was read out in court.

The coroner said he 'would normally interpret' a note of that kind 'as a clear indication of suicidal intent'.

Two entries from Ms Vaisvilaite's diary, made on April 5 and April 6, 2020, were also read out.

A toxiciology report found the 25-year-old had recently taken a sleep aid, an unprescribed anti-depressant and beta-blockers, but all were at levels described as 'not excessive'.

But dangerously high levels of BHB, a chemical which can indicate diabetes, were found in Ms Vaisvilaite's system.

GP records also showed an appointment at a diabetes clinic had been arranged for her.

That led pathologist Dr Samer Al-Habba to give a cause of death as ketoacidosis - a serious complication of diabetes - which caused a sudden heart failure.

Dr Al-Habba said: "I was very surprised by the toxicology findings. All the indications were she had probably overdosed. When the drugs came back normal and the BHB came back high, that wasn’t what we expected, but that’s the reality."

Coroner Nigel Meadows recorded a conclusion of death by natural causes.

He said: "Arina has a history of suicidal thoughts, she has a depressive illness, she had had a relationship breakdown and the note that was found I would normally interpret that as a clear indication of suicidal intent.

"But the difficulty is the cause of death. There is no evidence of an overdose of medication.

"It's strange that this note was left on top of a pile of papers, however I am not satisfied there is clear evidence for me to come to a conclusion of suicide.

"There is evidence that she was in the early stages of being assessed for diabetes.

"Overall I find that she died from a naturally occurring form of diabetes which has caused ketoacidosis and quite a rapid death."

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