AN INQUEST has ruled that the death of a 32-year-old Highworth woman at her home in February was an accident.

Jessica Radley was found face down in a bath, upstairs at her house in Windrush on the evening of February 25.

The popular former pub and restaurant worker, who lived with her landlord at the house, had struggled with alcohol dependency for some years.

Today an inquest at the Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner’s Court in Salisbury heard that, on the day of her death, Jessica had spent the afternoon in Swindon with a friend.

She had been shopping and had had lunch at a Chinese restaurant before going ten-pin bowling.

She had drunk a number of glasses of red wine during the day and another almost empty bottle of wine was found in her kitchen, suggesting she had drunk more when she arrived home that evening.

Toxicology reports found that the level of ethanol in her body was very high, measuring 331 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood – more than four times the drink-drive limit.

A statement from Dr Lawrence John, who carried out the tests, said that the level of alcohol was sufficient to have caused a loss of consciousness.

Coroner David Ridley said: “It is likely that she lost consciousness due to intoxication and then became submerged in the bath water.

“This was an unintended consequence of a deliberate act – the deliberate act being having a drink and then taking a bath.”

Jessica was found in the bath by her landlord and friend, Richard Jeffries.

He tried to resuscitate her but could not find a pulse – he believed she had already died.

Police officers and paramedics were called and Jessica was pronounced dead at the scene.

The inquest heard a statement from Jessica’s sister, Charlotte Beesley.

The pair had moved in with foster parents at a young age after difficulties with their own mother, Jessica had stayed in the foster home until she was 19 at which point she moved to Swindon to live with her boyfriend.

After a difficult relationship, she returned to Highworth where she worked in a pharmacy and then behind the bar at a number of pubs.

She spent time as a manager at The Fox Inn which is where Charlotte believes her sister began to drink heavily, drinking a bottle of red wine a day.

Charlotte said she had tried to talk with her sister about her drinking but that she struggled to accept the scale of the problem.

Despite these difficulties, Jessica was a popular person and well-liked by her friends.

At the time of her death a number of friends paid tribute to her on social media, describing her as “an awesome friend” and “an amazing person.”