Yoga teacher died following garage fire at her Wirral home, inquest is toldA YOGA teacher, who suffered from depression, died after starting a fire in the garage of her Wirral home, an inquest heard.
The body of Karen Gallagher, 44, was found on the garage floor by firefighters who attended the property in Gloucester Road, Wallasey, on March 15. A postmortem found that the mother-of-two had died from severe burns.
Coroner’s officer Donald Johnston told the inquest at Wallasey Town Hall last week that on the morning of her death, Miss Gallagher had been seen riding a bicycle with a petrol can on the handle bars.
The fire service was called to her home just after midday following reports that smoke was seen coming from the garage and the side door was locked.
Firefighters forced the garage door open and found the mother-of-two lying on the floor. A green-coloured petrol can was found nearby.
The postmortem conducted by Dr Krishna Gumparthy at Arrowe Park Hospital revealed that Miss Gallagher had sustained 81 per cent burns. A toxicology examination showed no traces of alcohol in her blood.
The inquest heard that Miss Gallager had suffered from depression and had made several attempts to self-harm.
Three weeks before the fire, she had jumped into Birkenhead docks but later told her partner, Martin Harvey, that the shock of the cold water had made her think of her famiily.
Recording a narrative verdict, Wirral coroner, Christopher Johnson, said: "The deceased died as the result of self-inflicted burns."
A narrative verdict is one in which the coroner simply records the circumstances surrounding the death.
THE GLOBE
RIP
! Sorry if i havent got much of a sense of humour at the mo.. She was a brilliant and lovely person and touched many hearts..
