Woman who lay dead in flat for three years wrote she was 'starving' in diary

A vulnerable woman who lay dead unnoticed in a social housing flat for more than three years wrote in her diary she was starving and running out of food, an inquest has heard.

- Matthew Weaver

The "mummified and almost skeletal" remains of 38-year-old Laura Winham, who was deaf and had schizophrenia, were found in her flat in Woking in May 2021. Her family, whom she had asked to stop contacting her, say she had been "abandoned and left to die" by social and mental health services.

A pathologist told the inquest at Surrey coroner's court this week that it was impossible to narrow down a time of death. But a calendar in Winham's flat had dates crossed off until 1 November 2017, the court heard.