A heartbroken special constable text a friend saying her boyfriend had "absolutely destroyed me" before killing herself when he e...
A heartbroken special constable text a friend saying her boyfriend had "absolutely destroyed me" before killing herself when he ended the relationship, an inquest heard.
Dr Sara Gilks, 32, who had a distinguished academic career and considered one of West Yorkshire Police's most respected volunteer officers, told friends she was shattered by the break-up.
The court was told that she had begun to research suicide methods over the internet before she was found dead in her bed by her friend Diane Hirst.
She told the inquest: “I received a message from her saying her boyfriend had split up with her and she was ‘proper gutted’. She was very upset.
“It was clear that she was so shocked by what had happened. He had booked a skiing holiday for them. The next morning, she said she couldn’t stop crying.”
Diane became worried when she did not hear from her friend again and two days later she let herself in Sara’s flat in Huddersfield during the evening.
She said: “I went into her bedroom. She was wearing her pyjamas. I grabbed her arm, it was cold. There were packets of tablets on the bed.
“I was so shocked and upset I couldn’t speak. I never thought she would do such a thing.”
Bradford Coroner’s Court was told Dr Gilks worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Manchester.
She had graduated Huddersfield University with a first in forensic and analytic chemistry in 2009 before gaining a PhD from the University of Manchester.
But she had a history of depression and her self-confidence evaporated in the aftermath of relationship breakdowns.
Det Con Simon Thomas said she had been using her mobile phone for internet research on suicide methods.
On text message she sent read “he has absolutely destroyed me” while another said “he was so loving towards me and then he does this.”
On the day of her death in March, she had taken a fatal overdose and had also left a note.
Coroner Martin Fleming concluded that she had taken her own life adding it was clear that the latest break-up had “severely impacted on her.”
