Mansfield mum found dead in bed after overdosing on painkillers to treat tennis elbow

When police attended the home of 37-year-old Gemma Atkin, her body was discovered on the floor of her bedroom after being pulled from the bed by her son, the hearing at Nottingham Council House was told today.

Paramedics and police attended her address on Yew Tree Avenue, Forest Town, after her son filed a 999 call after finding her unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at 7.20am, on March 23, 2022.

The son and his seven-year-old sister were then taken to a neighbour’s house to allow a police investigation to be undertaken.

Fiona Gingell, Nottinghamshire assistant coroner, heard from a GP report that Ms Atkin had a history of breathing problems including asthma, recurrent bronchitis and lung abscesses.

The inquest was told that days before her death she had called her GP complaining of pain caused by tennis elbow and had requested a steroid injection she had previously received.

Her children had reported her fit and well the day before her death.

However a toxicology report later showed she had enough codeine in her system to have ended her life, as well as large amounts of paracetamol.

Det Sgt Matt Dumbrell, of Nottinghamshire Police said the police attended the “typical family home”, but there were no suspicious circumstances.

He said: “We were contacted by EMAS to tell us they had had a call from a 10-year-old child who had found his mother unresponsive at 7am.

“Police found the address to be secure and there was no sign of any disturbance. There was no sign of a struggle, or any sign she had been a victim of violence.

“Her children had described her coughing in the night, but said it was a ‘different cough’.”

Recording a conclusion of drug-related death, Ms Gingell said: “There is no evidence to suggest this medication had been taken to cause harm to herself or to end her life and it is more likely to be as a means of relief for the pain she was suffering.”