'My full-of-life daughter was failed by the system'

WOMAN, 34, WAS KILLED BY MASSIVE BRAIN INJURIES

- By DANIEL HALL Daniel Hall

Maureen Walker

HEARTBROKEN mum June Hunter told a coroner “she has been failed” at the conclusion of an inquest six years after the death of her youngest daughter.

Maureen Walker, 34, died in the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle after suffering “catastrophic brain injuries” at home in the city in September 2019.

She spent five days in hospital before her family had to make the agonising decision of allowing her life support to be turned off.

The inquest into Maureen's death has now concluded at Newcastle Coroner's Court, with assistant coroner Karin Welsh unable to ascertain whether the subdural haematoma that caused her death was sustained during a fall or an assault.

In the investigation into Maureen's death, a 40-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm but was released with no further action.

The inquest heard that Maureen had been in an abusive relationship and had been in hospital several times between January and August 2019. She had become known to Northumbria Police, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust, Newcastle City Council adult social care and the North East Ambulance Service.