Islington News: Sharon Charles | Paranoid Schizophrenia | Balcony

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Islington Tribune - by SARA NEWMAN
Published: 29 August 2008

Woman died after jump from balcony

A HOLLOWAY woman suffering from paranoid schizophrenia leapt off her balcony after attempting to take her own life using razor blades, an inquest heard.
St Pancras coroner’s court was told on Tuesday how Sharon Charles, 43, of Hathersage Court, Holloway was cared for under a community programme having been sectioned under the Mental Health Act in 2006.
Her medication had been changed from anti-psychotic injections to tablets and she had broken her leg in the weeks leading to her death in January this year.
Described as a private person, Ms Charles rarely divulged details about her family to social worker Cybil Lewis who said her patient’s suicide came “out of the blue”.
Although there were no witnesses, neighbours said they heard her land on the pavement outside her block of flats.
Police reported a “blood trail” from the balcony to Ms Charles’ kitchen where the razor blades were found.
Recording a verdict of suicide, coroner Dr Andrew Reid said: “On account of circumstantial evidence that she intended to hurt herself with razors I’m satisfied that she voluntarily and deliberately threw herself from her balcony.”

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