Suicide of lawyer struggling to balance work and motherhood
A successful City lawyer drowned herself after struggling to balance the demands of motherhood and her high-pressure job, a coroner's court heard today.
Mother-of-three Catherine Bailey, 41, was found drowned in the Thames near Richmond Bridge in Twickenham in January.
The South African-born partner in a City law firm had only recently returned to work after the birth of her third daughter.
An inquest at West London coroner's court today was told how Ms Bailey's husband, Dr Neil Ashman, reported her missing after growing concerned when she did not return to their Islington home after work at SJ Berwin on 9 January. It followed a phone call from her to him at lunchtime.
Police launched a missing-person search after speaking to her employers. Officers found her credit card had been used to book a hotel room at the Thistle Hotel at the Barbican. However she was not found at the hotel and staff did not recall seeing her there.
Detective Sergeant Bernard McCabe, leading the search, told the court how Ms Bailey's mobile phone usage traced her movements to the Embankment that night and at Blackfriars the following morning heading west.
The text message, which was read out in court, said: "Richmond. I am so sorry. BK (big kiss). All my love to you and the girls. Hold them close."
Ms Bailey, described as professionally "driven" and a "loving mother", left behind three daughters under the age of six.
The youngest was six months old at the time of her death.
The lawyer, who specialised in complex financial litigation, had returned to work shortly before Christmas. Her husband, a kidney expert at the Royal London Hospital, told the coroner there was no warning his wife would take her own life.
Coroner Alison Thompson recorded a verdict of suicide and described the case as "absolutely tragic".
She said: "Ms Bailey was a very capable and professional woman and loving mother of three young children who found it hard to meet the demands of motherhood with the high standards she had set for herself.
"It's probable she may have been suffering from a degree of post-natal depression."
She joined SJ Berwin in 1995 and was promoted to partner in 2003.
Her employers described her as an exceptional lawyer.
