A woman found dead on Wimbledon Common clutching an empty vodka bottle died from alcohol poisoning and did not intend to kill herself, a coroner has ruled.

The body of Marianne Zeck, 61, was found by two golfers in Camp Road, Wimbledon Common, at 11.20am on Saturday, April 23. She was pronounced dead by emergency services shortly before 11.30am.

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Ms Zeck, who lived in Raynes Park, had been reported missing to Wandsworth Police by her sons’ father the day before, after disappearing from his Parkside home.

A youth worker and complementary therapist, Ms Zeck spent years volunteering at both the Smart Centre in Morden and St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace in central London.

Consultant psychiatrist at the Wimbledon Recovery and Support Team, Dr Paul Brain, told Westminster Coroners’ Court on Wednesday, September 28, Ms Zeck was stuck in a “vicious cycle” of drinking to alleviate her anxiety, which was itself largely caused by her drinking.

Wimbledon Times:

Dr Brain said: “We tried to disentangle what was anxiety, and what was caused by alcohol.

“Suicide was discussed with her at every meeting we had. There wasn’t an occasion when she expressed suicidal thinking, in fact quite the opposite.

“She would always impress that it was something she would never consider, and despite her problems there was a sense of her wanting to take active steps to improve her situation.”

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He added: “There was a sense that she didn’t, for the most part, engage well in the process of allowing us to help her to lessen the drinking.

“There was a certain amount of conflict in terms of acknowledging the impact it was having on her life and a sense of concern that she couldn’t cope without it.”

The court heard that Ms Zeck had struggled with a severe alcohol problem throughout 2015, including two separate incidents in July and October where she had fractured her wrist from falling while intoxicated.

A statement was read to the court from witness Russell Smart, who had been playing golf on the morning of April 23 when his friend John James hit his ball into a wooded area, and discovered Ms Zeck’s body when he went to retrieve it.

Wimbledon Times:

Ms Zeck's body was found by two golfers on Wimbledon Common in April

Mr Smart returned to the wooded area, close to the London Scottish golf course, with Mr James. He said: “I saw a female body lying on the floor with a pink fleece and blue trousers.

“I tried to wake her up but there was no response. I called for an ambulance and tried to perform CPR on her.

“It was quite obvious she was dead.”

PC Gareth Lewis attended Camp Road, and said he found Ms Zeck lying on her back in the trees.

He told the court: “There was a bag for life next to her with three full bottles of vodka in it. There was an empty vodka bottle in her left hand and a lid in her right hand.

“There didn’t appear to be any suspicious circumstances. There was no suicide note.”

A post-mortem carried out on Ms Zeck revealed that she had a blood alcohol level of 725mg per 100ml of blood. Anything over 400mg is considered likely to cause death.

Coroner Dr William Dolman ruled her death was caused by alcohol toxicity.

He said: “It’s true the deceased had an alcohol problem, and it’s true that had been the case for a year or so. Specialists had tried to assist her.

“She had physical problems as a result, falls and fractures, but clearly had some insight into her problems. The nature of her problem was such that she could not, or would not, engage in attempts of rehabilitation.”

He added: “There is no evidence at all that she wanted to harm herself or commit suicide. It was the alcohol poisoning that killed her. She didn’t intend that result, of that I’m sure.”