GAZETTE & HERALD: A WOMAN who suffered multiple sclerosis for 15 years, and who had spent the last ten years in a wheelchair, drank herself to death, an inquest heard.

Delene Simmons, 37, of Moss Mead, Chippenham, died at her home.

A post mortem showed her blood-alcohol level was 435mg per 100ml the legal limit for driving is 80.

At an inquest in Chippenham yesterday coroner Richard van Oppen described this as a massive amount and well within the lethal range.

But he recorded a verdict of misadventure because he said there was no evidence to suggest she had intended to take her own life.

Mrs Simmons was diagnosed with MS just before her marriage to Roger Simmons in 1988.

She showed no real signs of the illness, however, until her mother died in 1993 and the MS took a real hold.

She spent 14 weeks in Chippenham Hospital and came out of hospital in a wheelchair.

She was told she would never walk again but she did manage to walk a little with her husband supporting her.

Mr Simmons cared for and supported his wife throughout her illness and kept up a full-time job at Swindon Automobiles.

In 1998 Mrs Simmons' manner changed towards her husband, and she became aggressive, but it took a few years to find out it was a consequence of her turning to alcohol.

From time to time she would fall out of her wheelchair and bottles and cans were found around the house, but Mr Simmons tried to help her control the addiction by keeping any alcohol upstairs.

On December 2 Mr Simmons went out to work at 7.45am, saying goodbye to his wife as usual.

The couple would keep in contact throughout the day so Mr Simmons could be sure his wife was well, and she would ring him every half an hour.

After work he went to a meeting, though at 6.15pm he spoke to her briefly and she seemed fine.

He returned home at about 8.10pm, and found the house in darkness. He went into the kitchen and turned on the light, to find a bottle of Scotch on the table.

He saw his wife sitting in her wheelchair in the doorway. He called a friend in to help and summoned an ambulance, but Mrs Simmons was dead.

Hairdresser Jane Poulton said in a statement she tinted Mrs Simmons' hair on the morning of her death.

She said she was crying when she arrived, but this was not unusual. Mrs Simmons complained she needed to sort out her marriage which she said was more of a problem than the MS. Before leaving she fetched a bag from upstairs which contained a bottle, though she did not know what sort of bottle it was.

Mr van Oppen concluded the cause of death was acute alcohol poisoning but found no indication Mrs Simmons intended to take her own life.