Mum took own life after injecting children - inquest

A woman took her own life after injecting insulin into her three children, one of whom later died, an inquest has found.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, died at the John Radcliffe Hospital on 20 November, having been found unresponsive at her home a month prior.

An inquest at Oxford Coroner's Court heard the 49-year-old was going through court proceedings over the custody and residence of her children with her ex-husband.

Coroner Nicholas Graham ruled her death, which was caused by a neuroglycopenic brain injury, to be suicide.

Det Sgt Michael Neath told the inquest the woman had the children with her under the pretence that they were going abroad for a holiday.

"When she started to inject them she said it was to prevent jet lag," he said.

Evidence from the woman's GP stated she had mixed anxiety and depressive disorder, but had never been prescribed insulin by the practice.

The court heard she had a "history of marital problems" and "allegations between her and her husband".

The GP said she had raised concerns about the children and whom they were going to live with, as well as over contact with them.

In September 2025, she reported stress and anxiety and expressed suicidal thoughts for the first time, but did not express intention, the court was told.

The woman had also been seeing a psychotherapist prior to the incident, who told the court in a written statement she had been providing "therapeutic parenting guidance".

The woman had been having one-to-one sessions with the psychotherapist, in which she discussed difficulties in relation to court proceedings with her ex-husband.

In a statement, the psychotherapist said, knowing what she knows now, the woman "appeared vulnerable" with "slightly elevated narcissistic traits".

She said she "wanted to win the case" but that she had "never gave any indication of harming anyone".

The court also heard written evidence from a neighbour, who said they were aware of a "family dispute", which they described as a "custody battle".

They said on the day of the incident, two children were "banging on the door" while they were upstairs.

"It must have been loud because I wouldn't have heard it otherwise," she said.

The neighbour said they were "surprised" to see the children, who were barefoot and in pyjamas, with the older child "very distressed".

They said when they went to the house and found the woman and child, the former was "still breathing but not in a good way".

The court was told that the woman was surrounded by boxes of insulin.

The neighbour, who called the emergency services, told the court that days previously the woman had asked them to return the house key that had been lent to them, and that the curtains had been drawn for a "long time".

The court was told by Det Sgt Neath that the day before the incident she moved her vehicle.

He said this, along with the curtains being drawn, was to "delay the discovery of the scene and delay the treatment of those inside".

He also said the older child's phone was found underneath a pillow and was confiscated by their mother to "prevent [them] from being able to raise the alarm".

Analysis of the batch of insulin showed it was distributed in Malaysia, and three receipts from across a week in August showed she had bought the drug from pharmacies in the country.

The court heard she "planned to take action as early as August".

Concluding the inquest, coroner Nicholas Graham said access to her children "was a factor in the context" and "led her to deliberately take her own life".