Woman died after drinking eight bottles of wine (From Swindon Advertiser)

Woman died after drinking eight bottles of wine

9:15pm Tuesday 24th June 2008 in News By Jeremy Grimaldi

A SOCIAL worker died at her home after drinking eight bottles of wine, an inquest heard.

Julia Jones, 35, who lived in Grange Drive, Stratton, passed away on January 28 last year after feeling stressed out' by her job and her rocky relationship with partner Dale Barnett.

Miss Jones is said to have gone out to the shops the day before her death, where she is believed to have picked up the alcohol, before spending the rest of the evening consuming the drink.

Mr Barnett said he found her curled up at the base of their bed that evening and moved her to make her more comfortable before going out that evening.

However, when he returned home the next morning he noticed that her legs, which were sticking out of his dressing gown, which she had been using as a blanket, were discoloured'.

Witnesses to the scene said that eight empty bottles of wine were scattered around the room.

Mr Barnett, a plastics technician, admitted the relationship between the couple had been strained.

He told the inquest at Swindon Council's Civic Offices: "We were £150,000 in debt. At that time when she started drinking she just kept going without any sort of gauge of when to give up. The relationship was rocky."

He added that the night before he left her they ended a fight with the words Dale don't go' and him saying Julia don't drink' and then closing the door.

David Ridley, assistant deputy coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, recorded the cause of death as alcohol toxicity, after it was discovered that Miss Jones' blood alcohol level was five times over the legal driving limit.

Speaking outside the Civic Offices after the inquest, Julia's brother Paul, who still lives in her hometown of Penrhiwceiber, in Wales, said his sister was a loving person.

He said: "She was a wonderful girl and sister and all she did was care for people and she didn't deserve any of this. Julia was five foot nothing, bubbly and always wanted to put others before herself and she was always looking for the good in people. She was just always so full of energy, there were lots of contributing factors and her state of mind was worsened by her relationship.

"Julia was very good at her job and helped many people throughout her life. She is sorely missed by many people we were shocked at how many people turned up at her funeral telling stories about Julia."