A RETIRED teacher and occupational therapist jumped from cliffs at West Bay just two days after her mental health section order was lifted, an inquest heard.

Coroner for Dorset Sheriff Payne was told that walkers in the East Beach area saw 63-year-old Jean Curry walking to the cliff top on the morning of Wednesday, February 11.

Moments after seeing her resting against a post and looking out to sea they heard a “loud thud”, before rushing to her aid.

Paramedics arrived a short time later at 11.58am where they found Miss Curry unconscious but still breathing. An air ambulance landed nearby at 12.30pm but she was pronounced dead at the scene at 12.45pm.

A post-mortem examination found she died as a result of “multiple severe injuries due to a fall from height”.

Miss Curry, of Portsmouth, had a history of depression and anxiety spanning a decade, the inquest was told. It is understood to have been triggered by the breakdown of a long-term relationship and regrets about never marrying or having children.

After studying at the University of Exeter she trained as a teacher in Portsmouth before educating girls in geography and music at a school in Zambia. After returning to teaching in the UK she re-trained as an occupational therapist, rising to department head at West Sussex Wheelchair Service. She retired in 2013.

Her sister, Linden Leeke, told the inquest Miss Curry left for a walking holiday in Menorca shortly before Christmas last year and planned to stay there for the duration of the festive season.

On January 2, however, Ms Leeke received a phone call from her sister “crying for help”. She said she had returned home early from her holiday in a state of anxiety before spending Christmas alone.

She was sectioned under section two of the Mental Health Act and detained at St James’ Hospital in Southsea.

Dr Sarika Kakwani, Miss Curry's psychiatrist, told the inquest that Miss Curry was deemed to be at a “low risk” of harming herself after improvements in her condition. It was therefore agreed to lift the order on February 9.

Miss Curry decided to remain at the hospital voluntarily, Dr Kakwani told the inquest. And on February 10 she was given overnight leave and chose to return home.

Mr Payne concluded that Miss Curry, who the court heard had loved walking in Dorset, drove to the beauty spot the following morning.

“She had left a note in her overnight bag – a note quite clearly stating that she was going to end her life,” he said. “It is quite clear that she is responsible for her own death – she has done this herself and I am unable to turn away from the verdict that she has taken her own life. This is against a background of her anxiety disorder.”

Paying tribute, Ms Leeke told the court her sibling was a gifted soprano singer who enjoyed cycling, theatre and undertaking charity work, adding: “She loved the company of her friends and family and had the ability to laugh and make others laugh.”