Young woman killed herself over abuse she suffered at the hands of a violent former boyfriend
Holly Bradbury, 23, had finally escaped ugly 20-month relationship with ex - which saw her slash her wrists - when she took her own life
A BEAUTY therapist killed herself after she was left tormented by abuse she suffered at the hands of a violent former boyfriend.
Holly Bradbury, 23, had finally got away from her ex-lover after an ugly 20-month relationship. But it is feared she was haunted by memories of furious arguments during which she self harmed in front of him.
Despite showing signs of recovery, as well as socialising with friends and also landing a job interview, Holly sent a cryptic text to an old schoolfriend saying: '”Took your advice, did it for me and I'm so happy.”
Hours later she found hanged in her bedroom by her parents with an empty bottle of sherry was found next to her bed alongside a number of tablet blister packs. Tests showed she had taken an overdose of paracetamol.
Holly, from Standish, near Wigan, Greater Manchester had begun the relationship with her unnamed ex in May 2013 shortly after her 21st birthday and then moved in with him.
But the relationship was punctuated by bitter rows which involved furniture being smashed up and in the summer of 2013 she cut her own wrists in front of her partner.
They eventually they broke up in Christmas the following year and she moved back in with her parents.
At an inquest Holly's mother Dr Amanda Chivers said: "For 20 months she was in a relationship and she started going out with him after her 21st birthday. During summer 2013 she self harmed by cutting her wrist and I think she did it in the presence of this abusive guy who she was in a relationship with at the time.
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''We were there a lot of the time while they were arguing and we could see lots of violence and smashing. We spent most of our time trying to bring her home but we would see the house all smashed up.
''He seemed to have some kind of hold over her. When she was with him she was a little bit like a different person she was anxious and cautious. We were extremely worried about her.
"She moved back in and we felt massively relieved we collected her and a lot of her things had been damaged and smashed.
"We saw it as a very dark period in her life when she was in that relationship. After that she slowly set about her own recovery. She was going to the gym, doing driving lessons there was no sign of any problems at all.''
Dr Chivers who works in mental health told the Bolton inquest that she believed her daughter had turned a corner when she took her own life.
She added: "Holly was a bright, beautiful young woman who had gone through some difficult times.
"At the time there was absolutely nothing that would suggest that this would happen.
''Maybe it was some kind of flashback to something that triggered it. Maybe the cuts hadn't fully healed.
''We were so proud of how she fought back and crafted the life she wanted.
''She was maturing and blossoming and we have heard so many statements from people saying what a kind person she was and how much she had inspired them.
''The world was her oyster. She went out with her friends each weekend they are all in shock - I just I wish I knew what her intentions were at that time.
"That weekend she was out with friends and seemed full of life and happy to be getting everything back on track."
In 2015 Holly, met up with an old school friend, James Gallagher through Facebook and they began a relationship. They went on a six week trip to South East Asia last December but the affair broke up when they agreed to be friends.
On the day of her death on February 29 this year, Holly had sent a text message to Mr Gallagher saying: “I love you”. He had replied saying: ''Really Holly come on you know we are not right for each other. Let's just be mates'.
But Holly later sent another message which read “I'm totally content. Things just got clear on what I needed to do, I just wanted to tell you I love you” before signing off with her final text.
Recording a suicide conclusion Assistant Coroner, Alison Miller-Varey said: "Holly was an ambitious, bright and intelligent person, much loved by her proud family who were rightly proud of her but she did have some troubles in her life."
"Her last two text messages, whilst they do not denote directly suicidal intention they do show a settled decisive plan for herself.
"I've taken into account that she did appear to be making some plans for the near future. A job interview and agreements with her mother. It's the case that people experiencing acute mental stress act up on plans to end their own lives."