A WREXHAM woman accidentally overdosed on painkillers, an inquest heard.

Margaret Hazel Davies, 79, died at her home on Old Mold Road in Gwersyllt on August 9, 2019.

An inquest into her death held at County Hall in Ruthin on Thursday (September 17) heard that Mrs Davies, a retired factory worker, had been found dead at the foot of the stairs by her son.

The court heard that Mrs Davies had fallen and suffered a fractured knee cap earlier in 2019 whereby she had refused having it placed in full plaster cast in hospital, instead choosing to wear a knee brace.

The inquest heard a statement from her son Jeremy who described his mother as a “strong willed character” who often neglected help from her three children and others, despite her husband, Elwyn, needing round-the-clock support having suffered several strokes.

Mr Davies said his mother often was found not to be wearing the knee brace despite suffering severe pain from the injury.

The pain she was experiencing led to her increased use of various forms of painkillers, and she was known to sometimes take double the prescribed dosage, the inquest heard.

Despite her worsening pain, Mrs Davies refused to go back to hospital for further treatment and is said to have also drank alcohol - sometimes “too much” - to help with the pain and depression and anxiety, which she suffered from for over a decade.

A post-mortem examination conducted by Dr Mared Owen-Casey into Mrs Davies death found 146mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood.

It found that she had consumed paracetamol to a level whereby it could prove fatal, as well as toxic levels of other painkillers which caused massive liver failure.

The court heard evidence from Dr Owen-Casey which states the combined level of painkillers and alcohol in Mrs Davies’ liver caused a rapid breakdown in the normal metabolic function of the liver flushing toxins out of the body.

These toxins likely caused organ failure, the inquest heard.

Recording a conclusion of accidental death, John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales East and Central, deemed on the balance of all probability Mrs Davies’ death to have been caused by paracetamol and alcohol toxicity.