A DARLINGTON woman died from a drug and alcohol overdose, a court was told.

The post mortem examination carried out on Claire Jackson, of Hickstead Court, showed she had injected so much heroin into her system that her body would have shut down immediately.

The inquest into her death was held yesterday.

The 30-year-old was found dead by her fiance, Eric Craig, at a house in Greenbank Road, on March 22.

Mr Craig told the court he had only left her for 20 minutes to go to the shops, but when he returned she was lying still on the floor.

"I called for an ambulance straight away and it didn't take long to arrive, but there was no sign of life," he said.

Sergeant Geoffrey Powell, who worked on the police inquiry into her death, told the court: "There were no suspicious circumstances and nothing to suggest a third party had been involved.

"There were several injection marks on her body, but nothing to say they were the result of someone else injecting her."

He said: "There was a box of tablets found next to the body and the tablets were found in her system.

"However, this did not coincide with the high level of drugs in her body that would have killed her."

Coroner Andrew Tweddle said the pathologist's report, following the post-mortem examination, showed high levels of alcohol and heroin were in her body. The report suggested she would have stopped breathing instantly.

"I am sure it was not her intention to harm herself," said Mr Tweddle. "This was just a set of sad circumstances that went wrong."

A verdict of death by misadventure was recorded.