AN INQUEST heard how a break down in a 12-year relationship led to a woman drowning in an Andover lake “for the woman she loved”.

Kim Jutton-Hardy’s body was found in the lake of Rooksbury Mill near the entry of the River Aton on August 1.

The inquest held in Winchester heard how the day before the 34-year-old was found she and her wife Sophie Jutton-Hardy had ended their 12-year relationship, six of which they were married.

Hampshire Central coroner Sarah Whitby heard how Mrs Jutton-Hardy had a history of depression and had previously attempted to kill herself in 2007.

As a result of the suicide attempt the distributions manger became quite possessive of her wife and this led to friction between the couple as the years went on.

In a statement read on behalf of Sophie Jutton-Hardy she said that her wife was on anti-depressants and that “kim was a possessive person.”

The statement said: “Because of what she had done [the attempted suicide] I was always worried that she might do something again.

“She wasn’t happy when I couldn’t change my rest days so that we had the same day off and she didn’t like that fact that I was becoming closer with my friend Luke Barr.”

She added: “On one occasion Kim locked me in the house and was screaming at me, she had never been like this in our relationship before.”

The inquest heard that these clashes become more frequent to the point that the relationship ended on July 31, 2019.

The coroner heard how Kim had then packed a bag and left, without telling her wife where she was going.

Sophie’s statement added: “I text her to find out where she was, and she said she was safe but would not tell me where she was.”

Kim’s body was found in the lake at around 10.45am the next day (August 1).

Histopathologist Adana Al-Badri told the inquest that she had a “fatal amount” of antihistamine in her blood which would have made her drowsy.

Kim’s body was found in the lake when a woman was walking her dog along with her 12-year-old daughter.

PC Josh Phipps, who attended the scene, said: “I grabbed her right arm in an attempt to pull her from the water, but her body was rigid.

“On the bank of the river there were two notes, which were wet, which could have indicated that she went back to them.”

The inquest heard that on the night of the breakup Kim text her mum saying: “Mum, I’m sorry she really has broken me.”

In concluding coroner Ms Whitby said the cause of death was drowning but that Kim had “set out to take her own life.”

After the inquest in a statement Kim’s family said: “She was a really giving and caring woman, who would put herself before everyone else.

“She died for the woman she loved.”