Mother-of-two hanged herself days before court appearance for assaulting father-in-law

Sarah Hankins, 47, was terrified of being found guilty of the alleged attack and sent her husband a Facebook message apologising for killing herself

A ‘terrified’ mother-of-two took hanged herself three days before she was due to attend court for allegedly assaulting her elderly father-in-law, an inquest heard.

Sarah Hankins, 47, was terrified of being found guilty of attacking Geoffrey Hankins, 81, and the stress became so much that she took her own life

The dinner lady was found dead in the bedroom of her home in Bulford, Wiltshire, by her husband Gary in November last year,

She was due to attend court three days later to face a charge of assaulting her widower Geoffrey, after being arrested following a spat on March 26, 2015, and spent the night in a police cell.

Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner’s Court heard Mrs Hankins suffered from anxiety,bulimia and sleep problems in the lead up to the court proceedings.

Ian Singleton, assistant coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, said: “In March 2015 she was arrested due to an alleged assault which led to a deterioration in her mood.

“She was concerned about the way in which people would react to her and what they would think of her because of the allegation.”

The coroner reached a conclusion of suicide.

The inquest heard Mrs Hankins and her husband sold their home and moved in with Mr Hankins following the death of his wife in January 2010.

Patricia Taylor, Mrs Hankins’ mother, said: “She confided that her father-in-law had become violent and abusive towards her.

“She told of incidents where she had been assaulted by him. Over the years she became terrified by him.

“She had started to lose weight and was barely sleeping. I told her she needed to move out but she refused.

“The incidents of aggression and violence continued until a date at the end of March after she was arrested for assaulting her father-in-law.”

Mrs Taylor said her daughter was taken into custody overnight and then placed on police bail for a “very long time”.

 

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