A daughter told a court that she never realised her mother had the means to end her life in the mental health facility where she was a patient.

On Tuesday, the inquest into the death of Katarzyna Szymborska, a 48-year-old mother of three from Newmarket, continued at Suffolk Coroners’ Court. Mrs Szymborska died after taking action to end her life on October 14, using a method she had previously employed in Poland.

A statement from Mrs Szymborska’s daughter, Angelika Szymborska, was read out in court on her behalf.

Photographs of Mrs Szymborska and her family were passed to the jury, with Miss Szymborska describing her son, Mrs Szymborska’s grandson, as “the pinnacle of her world”. 

Miss Szymborska explained that her mother had struggled with her mental health for many years, dating back to the loss of her infant daughter, and the breakdown of her marriage. She had attempted to take her life and been hospitalised in Poland on several occasions.

In 2022, Mrs Szymborska was hospitalised in the UK. Her mental health had greatly deteriorated following the breakdown of a relationship, and her sister having moved into the room she rented. Miss Szymborska told the court that her mother had treasured having her own space and took great pride in the room.

Mrs Szymborska moved into the two-bedroom flat her daughter shared with her young won, but her depression continued.

“It got to the stage where I would sleep at the front door to ensure my mother wasn’t able to leave and try to kill herself,” Miss Szymborska told the court.

Mrs Szymborska spent time first at the Priory Hospital in Norwich, then at Wedgwood House in Bury St Edmunds form August 2022 until her death.

Wedgwood House is a mental health treatment facility located within the site of West Suffolk Hospital, but is a separate entity to the hospital, and is run by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.

Miss Szymborska told the court of how her mother made little progress at Wedgwood House. The activities provided did not suit her mother, she said, and Mrs Szymborska struggled to communicate without an interpreter.

Miss Szymborska described a meeting with clinicians in October at which no interpreter was present, which she realised was a discharge meeting.

“I felt that all the doctor wanted was to be rid of my mother,” she said. “My mother was very open in the meeting that all she wanted to do was to die.”

Miss Szymborska described feeling torn; as a daughter, she wanted to protect and care for her mother, but recognised that lack of her own space had greatly contributed to her mother's decline, and felt that her two-bedroom flat would not be suitable.

She also wanted to protect her son from the trauma she had experienced herself, having watched her mother struggle with her mental health when she herself was a child.

Miss Szymborska told doctors that she intended to purchase airplane tickets to take her mother to a mental health facility in Poland, which she did.

At 12.06am on October 14, Miss Szymborska had a final phone call with her mother. She told her that she was loved by her family, and tried to reassure her that everything would be alright.

Mrs Szymborska took action to end her life later that morning.

Miss Szymborska said that when she arrived on the ward, a nurse told her they were surprised at what had happened.

Miss Szymborska replied that she was surprised that it had been possible for her mother to take this action inside her room, which her daughter had never been permitted to enter.

The inquest continues.