Mother-of-two found dead at Premier Inn in Sale struggled with depression

A healthcare assistant who worked through the Coronavirus pandemic at Wythenshawe Hospital tragically took her own life at a Premier Inn after a struggle with depression, an inquest has heard.

Julie Howarth, 42, was found dead in a room at the hotel on Carrington Lane in Sale on 29th March this year after her family became concerned about her whereabouts.

At Manchester South Coroners Court on Tuesday 20th September, the court heard how Ms Howarth was raised in Northern Moor and lived on Baycroft Grove in the area.

She had worked as a healthcare assistant for the NHS at Wythenshawe Hospital for 15 years and had worked throughout the Covid pandemic.

She had previously been diagnosed with depression and was on medication in the weeks before her death.

On 29th March, after failing to answer her phone, her family contacted police and began a search for Ms Howarth.

The 42-year-old had checked into the Premier Inn earlier that day and was alone, the court was told.

As police searched for her, they spotted the car Ms Howarth was driving in the car park of the hotel at around 7.45pm.

Detective Inspector Lee Barrow of Greater Manchester Police told the court that when the officers entered the room she was in, there was no evidence of life from her. He said the officers tried to perform CPR on Ms Howarth but their attempts were unsuccessful.

DI Barrow told the court there was nothing to suggest there had been any third party involved.

A statement from pathologist Dr Andrew Yates, who carried out the post-mortem examination, said Ms Howarth had a large amount of alcohol in her system, but not enough to have killed her.

In her concluding comments, senior coroner Alison Mutch expressed her condolences to Ms Howarth’s family and praised their actions when they raised the alarm about her wellbeing.

Ms Mutch ruled that the cause of death was hanging and said she was “satisfied” that on the balance of probabilities, Ms Howarth “did intend to take her own life”.

Ms Howarth’s death was marked as a suicide.