A WOMAN described as "a walking wound" died when she fell and hit her head after taking a cocktail of antidepressants and strong cider at her Minehead home, an inquest heard.

When investigators arrived at 39-year-old Collete Cunningham's flat in Oak Close, they found the walls and floor of almost every room to be splattered in fresh and dried blood.

Miss Cunningham, who was a heroin user, died in February from a severe haemorrhage. She was found to have 257 units of alcohol in her bloodstream, the legal drink-drive limit being 80.

She was discovered covered in bruises but her partner of two years, Lee Perkins, explained that she was always falling over and cutting herself. In a police statement, he described her as "a walking wound".

The inquest heard that pathologists were unable to ascertain what she hit her head on but that it could have been a door or radiator. She was found to have burns to her back where she had been lying against a radiator.

Just hours before her death, she had a fall which left a deep cut to her nose and police found a knife at the flat which Miss Cunningham had been using to cut her feet.

Coroner Michael Rose recorded a verdict of accidental death at the inquest in Minehead on Thursday.

Mr Perkins' police statement, in which he described the moment he discovered Miss Cunningham's body, was read out at the inquest.

He said that Miss Cunningham had been on various forms of medication but had been mixing anti-depressants with heroin and alcohol.

Mr Perkins told the police that his partner was always falling over and had cleared the blood up, but for the last two weeks of her life he had left the mess in order to shock her into sorting her life out.

The inquest was told that on February 21 Mr Perkins bought bottles of White Lightning cider and drank around three litres in around four hours before falling asleep on the floor at their flat.

He said Miss Cunningham always snored, but he woke and was unable to hear her breathing. He said he felt scared and ran to a telephone box to call for an ambulance.

The inquest heard that he normally put any alcohol away but he was drunk and fell asleep.

Paramedic Brian Day told the inquest that, when he arrived at the flat, he found Miss Cunningham slumped over on the sofa and Mr Perkins in a very distressed state.

He said she had dried blood around her nose and two black eyes and he spotted a cut and "huge bruising" to the top of her left arm.

Mr Day could not find a pulse and, realising she had been dead for several hours, he pronounced death at 2.25am. He said Mr Perkins, who was crying, pleaded with him to do something.

He said: "I have been doing this job for eight years and I feel that the man was genuinely distressed about her death."

Mr Rose asked Mr Day about the state of the flat but he said he did not notice if it was untidy as he was more concerned with the deceased.

Minehead Sergeant Dennis arrived at 2.30am and found Mr Perkins crying uncontrollably and noted that Miss Cunningham had cuts and bruises all over her body.

He saw that she had cuts and grazes to her feet and dirty hands with plasters on some fingers. He also noted the recent injury to her nose.

He then found blood stains on the carpet and blood smeared across the door and walls. There were large areas of blood staining on the kitchen floor while in the bathroom there was blood on the floor and walls and in the toilet and bath.

Sgt Dennis said in his statement that he found blood smudged on the airing cupboard which Miss Cunningham used to store her bottles of medicine.

The police spoke to neighbours and found there were no reports of disturbances that evening and, after examination, they could find no evidence of a struggle.

The inquest heard that there had been many rumours circulating the town as to the cause of Miss Cunningham's death.

In summing up, Mr Rose said it was a tragic case where Miss Cunningham had drunk alcohol and fallen over and hit her head, causing a severe haemorrhage.

He said: "Miss Cunningham was probably dead for some time before Mr Perkins woke up. This was a genuine accident and a tragic death."