Waterloo Road and Doctors actress hanged herself after battling cocaine and gambling problems, inquest hears - VIDEO

An actress who appeared in BBC dramas Waterloo Road and Doctors took her own life after a battle with drug and gambling problems, an inquest has heard.

Lynsey Pow, 34, who also appeared alongside Billie Piper in hit drama Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, was found dead at her flat in Honor Oak Park, south east London, next to opened bank statements which revealed her gambling debts.

Her father James Pow has claimed his daughter - who had reverted to using cocaine because she felt like a 'failure' - 'could have been saved'.   

An inquest at Southwark coroner's court heard how Ms Pow phoned her husband shortly before her death to apologise for racking up debts through gambling.

She also told Ashley House, a Eurosport TV presenter, that she had bought some cocaine, the court was told. 

After the phone call on November 28 last year, Mr House rushed back home, concerned about his wife's welfare.

But she was found hanging, surrounded by drugs paraphernalia. She had also left a note.

A post-mortem examination found traces of cocaine and alcohol in her body, the court was told. 

In a statement read out at the inquest, her father James Pow described how he had tried to take his daughter away from her husband a month before her death.

He said he wanted to take her to his home in Scotland to get her help with her drug use.

In the statement, it said: 'I sought to separate my daughter from her husband after he failed to fulfil his marriage vows to act as a custodian and guardian.'

Dr Johan Hugo, a GP who met Ms Pow six weeks before her death, told the court that the actress had revealed she 'felt like a failure'.

She told the doctor she was using cocaine on a daily basis and had tried to self-harm. Ms Pow was prescribed anti-depressants and referred for psychiatric treatment.

But less than a fortnight later, the actress told Dr Hugo she had stopped taking illegal drugs, claiming she felt like a 'different person'. A month later, she was found dead. 

Assistant Coroner Sarah Ormond-Walshe recorded a narrative verdict, describing it as a 'drug-related, self-harm death'.

She said the presence of drugs in Ms Pow's system meant it was impossible to say whether she intended to commit suicide.

She told the court: '[Ms Pow] appeared to have obtained some cocaine and while under the influence of cocaine she appeared to hang herself.

'It is likely to have influenced her mind so it cannot be said that she intended to die. I am recording this as a drug-related self-harm death.'

Ms Pow's father said he was pleased the coroner did not record a suicide verdict because his daughter's death had been a results of her relapse into drugs.

He told the Evening Standard: 'She was getting better. The tragedy is that she could have been saved.

'We did everything we could when we found out about the drugs. Lynsey touched so many lives. There were 1,400 people at her memorial service.

'The only thing that has helped is that it has brought our family even closer together.'

Mr House did not speak at or after the inquest. 

Bakudaily.az