A woman who was receiving trauma therapy after being raped as a teenager was found dead at a private hospital, an inquest has heard.

Emma Pring, 29, was an inpatient at the Cygnet Hospital in Weavering, Maidstone, on April 20 last year when she died.

A seven-day inquest began at The Shepway Centre, in the same town, and heard evidence from the Sussex woman's mother and lead practitioner.

Coroner Catherine Wood heard Ms Pring had a "complex history" of mental health issues, including emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD) and post-traumatic stress disorder.

It was also explained how she was the victim of two sexual assaults when she was 18 and 19, which had affected her mental health later in life and caused multiple episodes.

Ms Pring had been an inpatient at hospital 11 times from 2016 to 2018 as a result of her mental health, had express suicidal thoughts and had taken multiple overdoses.

In July 2020 she was transferred from Sussex to the Roseacre Ward at the Cygnet Hospital in Maidstone, for long-term "specialist" treatment to address her trauma.

"Emma was a loyal and generous person..."

The hearing heard how as Ms Pring began to receive her trauma therapy she became distressed and on three consecutive nights from April 14 to April 16 she was found by staff in a bathroom attempting to take her own life.

However, on April 20, Ms Pring was found unresponsive and could not be revived.

Her cause of death was given as asphyxiation.

During the first part of the hearing her mother Caroline described her as a "ray of light", and she had previously been described her by the family as a "loyal and generous person who put others first, and had an infectious smile and laugh".

The inquest jury, which has six female jurors and four male, heard from mental health nurse Mark Oldham, who was also Ms Pring's lead practitioner at the Sussex Partnership NHS Trust and when she moved to the Maidstone site.

He revealed he wasn't made aware of incidents involving Ms Pring on three separate occasions in April, just a few days before her death, and agreed with the family's legal representative this "vital" information should have been relayed to him.

The inquest continues.

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