A KENDAL dinner lady who took her own life suffered from bouts of depression for many years, an inquest heard.

Alison Wills was discovered with multiple stab wounds at her family home on October 19 last year.

The 46-year-old mother-of-two was found in the kitchen of her Windermere Road home by her husband, Andy.

Paramedics attempted to save her but she was later pronounced dead at the Royal Preston Hospital.

The inquest heard Mrs Wills had suffered from ‘superficial tentative wounds which are indicative of a process leading to more serious injuries’.

A pathologist also found she had scars on her inner left arm which were consistent with previous attempts of self-harm. Mr Wills told the inquest at Kendal’s County Hall inquest that his wife, who worked at Stramongate School, was in ‘fine health’ from April to September.

“She suffered from bouts of depression and anxiety for a number of years but last year between April and September she was in fine health and good spirits.

“But the whole week before the incident she was pretty weak and didn't want to do anything.

“I noticed a change in her mood as the usual signs began to appear but she denied she was falling into depression and in her opinion had conquered it but was just feeling down.”

He said that in the days before his wife’s death the pair visited a doctor who diagnosed her with mild depression.

“But on Saturday morning she came bounding downstairs and was the best I have seen her in a long time,” he added.

“She was almost her normal self and made something to eat and started doing housework.”

The inquest was told Mr Wills set off to Windermere with daughter, Leonie, at around 12.45pm to pick up son, Bradley, from his part-time job before returning home and finding his wife at around 1.15pm.

DCI Doug Marshall, who was in charge of the investigation into Mrs Wills’s death, said there were no signs of forced entry.

“The wounds were concentrated in the same area and there were no defensive wounds,” he said.

Recording a conclusion that Mrs Wills died as a consequence of her own actions while suffering from a mental illness, coroner for South and East Cumbria Ian Smith said: “This is not a normal way for somebody to take their own life.

“Her mental illness overrode the normal logical thought process.”