A WOMAN who had threatened to kill herself, slipped and drowned in the River Tees, an inquest heard.

The inquest was told that Camelia McDonough, 50, of North Albert Road, Norton, Stockton, was under the influence of alcohol when she was spotted perched on the wall of Victoria Bridge, which links the town to Thornaby.

Passer-by Kenneth Wilson told the hearing he spent 15 minutes trying to talk Miss McDonough down before she lost her footing as she tried to clamber to safety.

"She was trying to get her leg back over when she slipped and fell down into the water.

"She was trying to swim but the current was just pulling her back all the time."

In evidence read out at Teesside Coroners' Court, motorist Michael Turnbull said two men had flagged him down and asked him to call the emergency services just after midnight on Monday, June 7, last year.

Miss McDonough's body was found four hours later by a police diver, trapped underneath a branch.

Pathologist Christopher Rettman said Miss McDonough had consumed approximately six pints of beer or nine shots of spirits before she died.

Her brother, Malcolm McDonough, an unemployed artist who returned from living in the US to help look after their ailing mother, identified her body.

Teesside Coroner Michael Sheffield recorded an open verdict and said Miss McDonough's death was caused by drowning.