A MOTHER who fought years of depression ended her life when she walked in front of a train, an inquest heard.

Yvonne Mary Reed was struck down by an empty passenger train at Northallerton station, North Yorkshire, in the early morning of Wednesday, September 25.

She had been wrapped up in a blanket and walked into the front of the train as it was travelling about 70mph towards Darlington. The jury at Pickering returned a verdict of suicide while the balance of her mind was disturbed.

Her husband of 27 years, Andrew Reed, told the court how she first had psychiatric treatment after the birth of their daughter Hillary almost 20 years ago.

However, he described her as a "happy and loving mother and wife" until a relapse on Boxing Day 2000, when she tried to put a plastic bag over her head.

Mrs Reed, a special needs teacher, started a course of psychotherapy and took a mixture of drugs to fight depression for the entire 22 months leading up to her death and had attempted suicide three different ways.

Mr Reed had been away on business on the days leading up to his wife's death. When he returned home to find her car missing he recalled being frantic with worry.

"When someone has tried suicide before, you live on broken glass. It is always in the back of your mind that something is wrong," he said.

Trevor Elliott, the driver of the Arriva train that struck Mrs Reed, said it happened within the space of two seconds.