Body of indebted woman went undiscovered for a year

A woman may have been dead for more than a year before her body was found when a building society contacted her brother to say that she was behind on a debt, an inquest has heard.

Mary Fox, aged 56, was found dead in bed at her home at Cooldriona Court in Swords, Co Dublin, on Jul 14 last year.

Brendan Dunphy, her brother, told Dublin Coroner’s Court that he had not seen his sister, who was an alcoholic and suffered from depression, for more than a year. He believed she was in the care of mental health services at the Curam Clinic in Swords.