Woman, 27, took her own life in van fall - inquest

Leah Senior's death was by suicide, an inquest in Wakefield concludes

A woman who died after falling from a moving van had acted intentionally, an inquest has heard.

Leah Senior, 27, from Huddersfield, was travelling in a Ford Transit driven by her boyfriend on Denby Dale Road on 17 January when she fell from the vehicle.

Miss Senior's partner was arrested shortly afterwards, but faced no further action.

On Tuesday, an inquest at Wakefield Coroner's Court concluded that her death was by suicide, and there was “no suggestion” her partner was in any way to blame.

'So shocked'

In written evidence to the inquest, Hayley Senior, Miss Senior's mother, had told the hearing her daughter had grown up as “a happy, sassy and really jolly girl”.

However, she said her daughter had been severely affected when she was 13 years old by the death of her grandmother.

Miss Senior, who worked as an accountant, had then developed problems with alcohol during the Covid lockdown in 2020.

She had had a number of appointments with health professionals about her drinking and her mental health, but she felt “no-one was going to help her”, the inquest was told.

Mrs Senior added: "As Leah’s parents, we are so shocked. We never saw this coming and we are devastated."

'Deliberately jumped'

Det Sgt Andrew Queen, of West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Inquiry Team, had told the inquest the case was “initially treated as a potential murder inquiry”, but “those suspicions were completely allayed by the investigation”.

Concluding the inquest, coroner Oliver Longstaff said the evidence was clear that Miss Senior had “undertaken some research on how to end one’s life” and had attempted to do so on two previous occasions.

Mr Longstaff said Miss Senior had died from “injuries sustained when she deliberately jumped” from the van, adding that there was “no suggestion” her partner was in any way to blame.

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