A SOUTHAMPTON woman died in a fire caused by her smoking in her bedroom while drunk, an inquest heard.
Christina Troth suffered severe burns in the blaze at her flat on Bullar Road on December 3 last year.
The 63-year-old was found dead by firefighters after a neighbour in the flat above saw smoke coming from her window.
Winchester Coroner's Court heard a post-mortem found high levels of alcohol and carbon monoxide in her her blood, indicating that she was still alive when the fire started.
Assistant coroner Robert Simpson concluded Mrs Troth's death was accidental.
Read more: Body of woman found after fire at Southampton flats
Mr Simpson said: "Because of the exceedingly high level of alcohol in the blood, it is more likely than not that the fire started due to smoking while intoxicated.
"The fire started because she was in bed, or on her bed and an item of smoking equipment came into contact with flammable material around her."
The post-mortem found she was nearly five times over the drink drive limit at the time of her death, which was found to be due to both severe burn injuries and her high blood alcohol level.
A fire investigation concluded that there were no signs of deliberate human actions to start the fire and concluded that the most likely cause was accidental.
Mr Simpson offered his condolences to Mrs Troth's daughter and her friends in the local area.
Mrs Troth, originally from Belfast, moved to Southampton following the death of her father Joe Morrissey, who was abducted and killed in February 1977 by the Shankill Butchers, an Ulster loyalist gang, at the height of the Troubles.
She went on to marry professional golfer Charlie Troth, who played on the PGA Tour.
The inquest heard Mrs Troth, one of 13 siblings, had struggled with anxiety and depression, particularly during the pandemic, but never took any medication to treat the conditions.
Tricia Lee, Mrs Troth's daughter and only next of kin, said in a statement that she had had a "lovely relationship" with her mother until things soured, meaning she had to speak to other family members to "keep her up to date".
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