A woman with mental health problems died after overdosing on insulin, an inquest has heard,

Kiera Hodder was found unresponsive in her flat in Byrant Street, Chatham, after police forced their way in on April 6, 2018.

The 20-year-old, who was originally from Broadstairs and had been in care since the age of 14, had been self-administering insulin and had a history of overdosing on it, despite not being diabetic.

She was taken to Medway Maritime Hospital, which would have been her 76th attendance to A&E.

Five days later, doctors concluded she had suffered a hypoxic brain injury and declared her brain dead.

An inquest into her death at Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone heard how Miss Hodder had Emotional Unstable Personality Disorder and a mild learning disability.

She was admitted to hospital due to an insulin overdose two months before her death and frequently got in contact with the emergency services.

On April 3, ambulance crews attended three times upon the instruction of the police due to a reported insulin overdose, but Miss Hodder refused to attend hospital.

Police tried to contact her the following day.

It was decided that a call from the Community Mental Health Team may worsen her behaviour.

Miss Hodder’s father contacted the police the following day as he said it was unusual for her not to get in touch with him.

Police then forced entry to her flat the following day and found her unresponsive.

Speaking at the inquest, her father said she had developed a dependency on befriending people she met on the streets and before she was living in Chatham, she had been staying with a friend and her mother in Maidstone.

When he visited her flat after her death, he said he found boxes of baby items which he was not surprised at as he said she had a ‘delusion’ with being pregnant.

A pregnancy test carried out at the hospital was negative.

Mr Hodder described her daughter as “Bubbly, funny and had a sense of humour.”

He said: “Kiera’s death has devastated me. I feel a huge loss at not hearing her thoughts and feelings.

“She wasn’t able to take care of herself properly and no one was looking after her.”

Assistant coroner Sonia Hayes recorded a narrative verdict which said: “Police concerns to the mental health teams were not escalated.

“There were several lost opportunities for a more thorough clinical assessment and support to be put in place for her, however these were not causative of her death.”

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