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Matron’s tragedy

Court Staff
30/ 4/2008

THE matron of Willow Wood Hospice, whose death shocked an entire community, was being treated for depression and drink problems, an inquest heard.

Barbara Robinson (pictured), who went missing after failing to return home from a cancelled church meeting, died of hypothermia after falling down a ravine.

She disappeared on October 4 last year after her husband Keith dropped her off at her local church in Sheffield for a meeting.

The 52 year old was found nine days later by her 74-year-old husband and his son Andrew at the bottom of a ravine.

Her injuries were consistent with her having "rolled or fallen" 40ft-50ft down the embankment. There was no explanation why she was not able to get up after the fall.

Keith told an inquest into her death that he normally dropped her off at the church but she liked to walk home.

When she failed to turn up by about 9.30pm he became worried and called the church, who told him the meeting had been cancelled.

He went out to look for her and reported her missing to police around 11pm, but said the family was "disappointed" by their response

He said: "The police said they had done a lot, but it didn’t seem like it to us."

Keith and family members searched for Barbara on a daily basis – on the day she was found a coach-load of friends from the hospice was due to join the search.

The inquest heard that Barbara had been suffering from depression since 2001 and was being treated by her GP.

She also had an drink problem and had attended a residential detox in 2005 and a home detox programme in 2007, which was thought to be going well.

Keith told the inquest none of her colleagues knew anything was wrong and that said before her disappearance she was going through "one of her better periods".

Toxicology reports found that Barbara, who had been seen in a pub on the night of her disappearance, had some alcohol in her system but the levels were only consistent with social drinking.

She had high levels of diazepam — used to treat anxiety — in her stomach but most of the drug had not yet filtered into her blood system, so should not have affected her.

Verdict: open