A WOMAN who leapt to her death from a viaduct had made apparent suicide attempts days earlier, an inquest was told yesterday.

Lorraine Edwards, 50, got out of her husband David's car at the end of the Bishop Auckland Viaduct and was seen by other motorists walking along a parapet high above the River Wear.

A taxi driver saw her sitting on the ledge dangling her legs but she disappeared as he approached her.

A few hours earlier, Mrs Edwards had asked social workers in Crook for help. She left the office with her husband.

Mr Edwards, of Birch Drive, Willington, County Durham, said his wife had become severely depressed.

The weekend before the tragedy last November she had gone missing for a while during a family outing on the Saturday and been taken to hospital on the Sunday after taking painkillers.

Another time she had been clipped by a car when she lay down in the road. She had been taken to hospital where she begged for help and was given tablets for depression.

Deputy Durham Coroner Brenda Davidson said that Mrs Edwards intended to kill herself when she jumped.

She told Mr Edwards: "I accept that she did things which were a cry for help. I accept that you were doing a great deal to try to help her using the agencies that were available."