THE body of a woman found dead at her St Asaph home was badly decomposed and infested with maggots, an inquest heard.

Jacqueline Anne Atkinson, 57, was pronounced dead on July 21, 2022.

The full inquest, held in Ruthin today (March 30), heard that police officers found her lying prone at the foot of her staircase after neighbours raised concerns that they hadn’t seen her for some time.

John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales East and Central, recorded an open conclusion, and ruled an unascertained cause of death.

Born in Liverpool, Ms Atkinson worked in human resources, did not marry, and was sister to Pauline and Victoria.

Pauline Whalley said she had not had been in contact with Ms Atkinson for “six or seven years” prior to her death, but confirmed that her sister suffered from tremors.

Ms Atkinson had booked a holiday to Greece, she said, a country which they visited together in their early 30s, and where Ms Atkinson later lived for nine years.

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Ms Whalley said she last saw Ms Atkinson at a house she was living in, in Deganwy, and that she did not attend her father’s funeral roughly five years ago.

Ms Atkinson also “fell out with Victoria”, her sister said, adding that it was “difficult being in the middle of the two of them”.

She added that she was “incredibly sad to hear of Jackie’s death and the circumstances around it”.

A GP summary for Ms Atkinson, from Beech House Surgery in St Asaph, said that its last real contact with her was in relation to her COVID-19 vaccination.

She had suffered from pneumonia in 2019, it added, but there were not any “significant underlying disease processes”.

Police Constable (PC) Tim Parker was one of two officers asked to attend Ms Atkinson’s home at about 5.30pm on July 21, 2022.

Ms Atkinson’s vehicle outside the property was found to have cobwebs on it.

A neighbour told PC Parker that Ms Atkinson lived alone, kept to herself, and had worked from home for some time.

While searching the rear of her property, the officers could see a person lying at the foot of the stairs.

The body looked “black, as if it had been there for some time,” PC Parker added.

After forcing entry to the property, PC Parker said there was a “strong smell of decomposition”, as well as the presence of flies.

An adult female was found lying prone at foot of the stairs, her head bent under her torso, her legs bent slightly with her feet, and her body “infested with maggots”.

Around her neck, a lanyard was found, showing on it an identification badge with the name “Jackie Atkinson”.

A passport found at the address bore the same name.

The property was secure and locked from the inside, so no foul play was suspected.

Paperwork found at the property suggested that Ms Atkinson was due to be on holiday from June 19 until July 2, but it appeared “she may have passed away before taking the holiday”.

Police then informed Linda Costello, a friend of Ms Atkinson’s who was found listed as her emergency contact, of her death.

Ms Costello said that Ms Atkinson had no contact with her relatives, and that as far as she knew, she was in apparent good health, but took medication for tremors.

She had last spoken to Ms Atkinson in June, and was aware that she had planned to visit Greece.

A post-mortem was unable to take traces of Ms Atkinson’s blood or urine due to the condition her body was found in.

A sample of liver was taken, and Propranolol, a beta-blocker medicine which can reduce the symptoms of shaking, was found in her system.

No bone fractures were found, but most of her internal organs had disintegrated.

Concluding, Mr Gittins said that, in the case of Ms Atkinson, a cause of death “cannot be determined.”

But he added: “Being at the bottom of the stairs, prone, it is at least conceivable, though there is no evidence to support this whatsoever, that her death may have been a result of a collapse or fall.

“It does not suggest there was any mystery or suspicion around the death.

“Clearly, there is a lot by way of backstory, and it’s clear that her reliance in life was on friends, rather than family.”

Mr Gittins offered his condolences to Ms Costello, the only attendee at Ms Atkinson’s inquest.