Mum discovered lifeless in mattress by her husband returning residence from the college run

Deanne Clarke’s husband was left devastated after he wished his wife a good night – only for her to never wake up again – with investigations into the untimely death taking place

A mum-of-four whispered ‘I love you’ to her husband before she fell asleep, only to never to wake again.

Deanne Clarke, 41, was described as “an amazing mum” who absolutely “adored her kids”. Her husband Allan shared: “She was very strong – stronger than she thought. In her work life, she came out of school with nothing and worked really hard to get diplomas. She had a lot of strength and willpower. She was a really clever woman. She just didn’t think she was.”

The social care manager and mother was discovered dead in her bed at their Wallasey residence on January 7. An inquest at Gerard Majella Courthouse in Kirkdale, Liverpool, on Tuesday, April 15 concluded that she succumbed to an accidental overdose of painkillers after enduring weeks of “unbearable” agony and sleeplessness due to fibromyalgia, a condition known for inflicting pain, fatigue, and disturbed sleep.

Allan Clarke recounted the harrowing moment he believed his wife drifted into “a deep sleep” right before her death. He recalled: “I said ‘I love you’, (she said) ‘I love you too’, and then she laid down.

“Within minutes she had gone into a really deep sleep. It sounded like she was snoring slightly and I thought if I moved her pillow it would clear her airway. I moved her pillow and her head felt quite heavy. She went quiet. Her breathing seemed quite clear. That night she was lying quite comfortably and peacefully,” reports the Liverpool Echo.

Tragically, Mr Clarke faced a grim morning on January 7 when he discovered his wife unresponsive in bed around 8.55am after returning from dropping one of their children at school – which he had left for at the crisp hour of 6.30am, the courtroom was informed.

Regarding the incident, he expressed: “I thought she was in a deep sleep and had been all night, and I just left her. It was January and it was dark. It wasn’t until the schools were closed and I came to tell her, I looked at her and I knew.”

The aftermath investigation found dangerously high amounts of prescribed painkillers in her system from the post-mortem. The details on how many pills she took and when is still unclear, with Mr Clarke noting that his wife had always been “very meticulous” about managing her medication.

Coroner Joe Hart said: “Deanne had presented to her GP on January 6 with a chest infection, significant sleep problems and significant ongoing difficulties with pain.

“I find that pain was and must have been unbearable – even putting a T-shirt on would cause this lady very significant pain. I find that she was very careful lady where it came to her medication.

“This is a lady who was very much integrated with her family, very much making plans for the future. But I also find that at some stage over the course of January 6 into January 7, Deanne consumed a greater than therapeutic amount of a painkilling drug which had been prescribed to her.

“However I have heard absolutely no evidence as to how it come to be that Deanne took more painkillers than she was supposed to… and there was absolutely no evidence that this was deliberately taken at all.”

He added: “This seems to have been simply an accident. However careful Deanne had been in the past, it’s impossible to know what the impact of days, weeks and months of poor sleep, pain and poor vision can do.”

The official verdict detailed that the mum passed away from an overdose of painkillers, with pneumonia complicating the situation.

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