A nurse who turned to alcohol when her former husband died jumped to her death after drinking a bottle of vodka, an inquest heard yesterday.

Mother-of-five Gloria Humphries died after she plummeted 15ft from a first-floor window of a flat in Upper Holland Road, Sutton Coldfield.

The 53-year-old, who worked at Heartlands Hospital before she turned private to treat patients requesting her assistance, had been staying with her partner Gerrard Carroll, 66, when the tragedy happened on July 25 last year. Mr Carroll was charged with her murder but his trial was terminated by the Crown Prosecution Service in August last year due to insufficient evidence.

At an inquest at Birmingham Coroners Court forensic pathologist Dr Alexander Kolar, who carried out the post-mortem examination on Ms Humphries, said her body contained 400mg of alcohol per every 100ml of blood – five times the legal driving limit. She had been diagnosed with depression following the death of her former husband, Geoffrey O’Callaghan, in 2001 and her health and state of mind deteriorated rapidly in the 18 months prior to her death in which she lost her sister and several close friends.

Deputy coroner Christopher Ball said: “The narrative verdict I record is Ms Humphries died following injuries sustained in a fall from a first-floor window in circumstances where it was impossible to determine if the accident or fall was intentional.”