THE family of a woman who committed suicide criticised yesterday the level of her psychiatric care.

Divorcee Mary Graham, 55, overdosed on prescription drugs after countless attempts to take her own life, an inquest heard.

She was found by her sister, Christine Ravenscroft, who said in a statement to Teesside Coroner's Court that Mrs Graham's depression stemmed from 1960 when she was forced to give away her illegitimate daughter.

She said her sister had tried to kill herself in various ways, including drinking weed killer, gassing herself and, the day before her death, taking electric tongs into the shower.

Mrs Graham - one of 17 children - was under the care of community psychiatric nurse Colin Forth when she died on July 3, 2000, having recently been released from St Luke's Hospital, Middlesbrough. Mr Forth told the hearing he visited her frequently at her home in Blakeston Court, Stockton.

Mrs Graham's son-in-law Philip Kenyan asked him why he had not visited more often. "We feel you have failed in your duty. My wife has lost her mother."

Coroner Michael Sheffield, recording a verdict of suicide, said it was not normally the purpose of an inquest to go into the appropriateness of treatment.

After the inquest, Mrs Graham's daughter Karen Kenyan, 33, of Scunthorpe, said her mother should have been visited daily and re-admitted to the hospital.

A spokesman for Tees and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust said they would be contacting the family to discuss their concerns.