A PENSIONER was found hanged in her home, three days after being diagnosed with depression, an inquest heard.

The body of Valerie Ann Williams was found on the stairs of her home in Trindad Close, Popley, on January 5 this year.

The 72-year-old had been diagnosed with depression by her GP on January 2. She had previously contacted the Samaritans helpline with suicidal thoughts, an inquest at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court heard.

Her body was found by her daughter Mandy Vost and her son Richard Williams.

They called the police and it was PC Aaron Bendall who then confirmed that the 72-year-old had died.

Mrs Vost said her mother had worried unnecessarily about her money in the lead up to her death.

She told the inquest: “We sat down and worked it out with her.

“She just kept saying that she could not afford to live there, nobody was going to love her, we were going to hate her and that she was going to end up on the street.”

The grandmother’s money worries related to spending her “nest egg” on holidays after the death of her husband, the inquest heard.

Andrew Bradley, coroner for North East Hampshire, recorded a verdict of suicide.