AN OSWESTRY woman’s balance of mind was ‘disturbed’ when she took her own life in November last year, a Shropshire coroner has ruled.

Rachel Young died on November 30, 2019, in her family’s barber business in Church Street after going through a psychotic episode following three years of mental health problems.

Her husband Mark had previously said that he would like her death certificate to acknowledge that psychosis had been decisive in his wife’s death, and the county coroner told him that it would be a “matter of record”.

At Shrewsbury’s Shirehall on Tuesday, Shropshire coroner John Ellery acknowledged that Mrs Young’s psychosis played a significant part in her taking her own life.

And he recorded that she had been going through a psychotic episode that played a part in the act that ended her life, calling the situation ‘sad’.

“Let me be precise – Dr Katherine Harrison said ‘that the deceased was a 50-year-old old with a history of psychiatric problems and was found at the premises’," Mr Ellery told Mr Young. "Police found no suspicious circumstances.”

In February, Mr Young said: “I would like the death certificate to show that it wasn’t Rachel who took her own life, but that it was the psychosis.”

Mr Ellery added: “In terms of your wife’s state of mind, it seems to me, the history of psychosis and from your description, that morning, she was in no doubt suffering a psychotic episode when she did what she did.

“I accept that due to her psychosis, the balance of your wife’s mind was disturbed.

“Your wife’s death was suicide while the balance of her mind was disturbed – her psychosis will be a matter of record.”

Earlier this year, Mr Young paid tribute to his wife and Mr Ellery’s conclusion mirrored his own thoughts on how his wife’s death should be remembered.

“She was squeamish to the point of not hurting a fly,” he said. “But she is a wonderful woman to remember and I don’t have a single bad word to say about her.

“We’d sit by each other and just talk – I was the luckiest person ever and I feel robbed.”

He added: “Rachel was so clever – she had a business running, two kids and did two degrees at night. The sheer work of what she did was just amazing.

“I am so proud that I was her husband. All I ever thought about each day was how to keep her happy and safe, and that’s all I did.

“I will always love her until the day I die. She was a wonderful person, and she didn’t have a bad bone in her body – completely selfless.”