A MOTHER-of-two died from liver problems after drinking up to a bottle of vodka a day, an inquest heard. Tina Grain, 35, was found slumped and lifeless on a bed at her mother s house in Maxey Road, Dagenham, on June 22. An ambulance was called but nothing

A MOTHER-of-two died from liver problems after drinking up to a bottle of vodka a day, an inquest heard.

Tina Grain, 35, was found slumped and lifeless on a bed at her mother's house in Maxey Road, Dagenham, on June 22.

An ambulance was called but nothing could be done to revive her and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Tina, who had children aged 16 and seven, had been heavily drinking, on and off, for about eight months leading up to her death, Walthamstow Coroner's Court was told last week.

She had also been taking cocaine and painkillers, a pathologist's report revealed.

Her sister Julie Grain told coroner Dr Elizabeth Stearns she and the rest of the family were aware of her drinking problem and had tried to help her quit.

She said Tina never told the family she was taking drugs, but their suspicions were raised when she recently lost weight.

The court heard Tina, who sometimes drank a bottle of vodka a day, did make attempts to "sort her life out".

Julie said: "There were weeks where she'd stay dry and she even tried rehab for a while. But then she would start drinking again."

Tina, of Lodge Avenue, Dagenham, had been staying at her mother's home when she died. The mother discovered her daughter's body at about 9am and pulled an emergency cord installed at her house, which alerted the mother's carer.

The carer called an ambulance, but paramedics were unable to save her life.

Police officers found painkillers, prescribed to the mother, on Tina's bed. They also found two notes written by Tina. In one, addressed to Julie, she apologised for her behaviour.

Post-mortem tests showed she had been drinking and taking cocaine and painkillers in the hours before her death. But the levels of alcohol and drugs were not significant enough to have directly caused her death, the court heard. They could, however, have contributed to it.

The pathologist said Tina had a fatty liver, which can develop when someone drinks a lot of alcohol over an extended period of time. She said it was this that was the most likely cause of her death.

Dr Stearns concluded that Tina did not commit suicide because the levels of drugs and alcohol were too low.

She said: "If she had intended to kill herself I believe she would have drunk a lot more or taken more drugs.

"I am instead going to record a verdict of death by natural causes.