A WOMAN who took an overdose after being convicted of a £40,000 benefits fraud said: "I'm going to do it again" after being released from hospital.

An inquest heard that the next day Tanya Stevenson was found dead in an armchair at her brother's home after taking a cocktail of drugs and alcohol.

And the hearing was told Mrs Stevenson's recent troubles seemed to stem from her going to court for the benefit fraud offences.

In January she appeared in court and pleaded guilty to falsely claiming £40,000 in benefits over a five-year period. She was spared jail by the judge at Burnley Crown Court but was given a 10-month suspended sentence.

Mrs Stevenson, of Central Avenue, Clitheroe, had suffered from depression and anxiety for much of her married life but her husband Mark said it was controlled by medication.

"She still had her moods but medication kept her calm," said Mr Stevenson.

He told the inquest that on March 31 they had a row and she told him to leave. Shortly after he got a phone call from one of their three daughters to say she had come home and found her mum on the bedroom floor with empty tablet packs on the bed.

Mr Stevenson called an ambulance and after checks at hospital Mrs Stevenson was discharged.

She went to the home of her brother Edward Ward, in Lamlash Road, Blackburn. Mr Ward said his sister had seemed ill since the court case a few months earlier.

"After the court case she just seemed to give up on things," said Mr Ward. "She was drinking a lot and taking tablets. I just knew she had a lot of things on her mind after the court case."

Daughter Kerry Stevenson told the inquest of the early hours phone call in which Mrs Stevenson said she was going to "do it properly."

"She said that and then she put the phone down," said Kerry.

A post-mortem examination revealed a massive amount of dihydrocodeine along with fluoxetine and alcohol and pathologist.

Dr Richard Prescott gave the medical cause of death as toxicity of the three drugs.

Recording a verdict that Mrs Stevenson killed herself coroner Michael Singleton said the telephone call to her daughter had contained a clear indication that she intended to take more tablets.

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS trust is investigating the circumstances of her release.