A WOMAN found dead in a burnt-out car near Oswaldkirk had a long history of depression and had tried to kill herself three weeks earlier, an inquest heard.

North Yorkshire East coroner Michael Oakley recorded a verdict that Suzanne Marie Knight, 45, a rheumatoid specialist nurse, killed herself while the balance of her mind was disturbed. Her body was discovered in her Renault Megane car last June in a layby on the B1363.

Her husband, Stephen, told the inquest in Scarborough that they had been married for 22 years. She had first tried to commit suicide in 2004, he said.

Mr Knight believed that setting up her own business and the fact that he was working away from home, had been part of the cause of her problem.

Just before her death on June 16, she had been “extremely depressed”, he said.

He told the hearing: “She didn’t feel she was getting the care she needed. She was trying to be positive. The previous evening she had been ironing and talking to our children.”

Fire station officer Roy Ashton told the inquest that electrical fault, the usual cause of car fires, had been ruled out, and barbecue lighter fuel had been found in the car. “There was a lack of a credible accidental cause for the fire,” he said adding that the fuel had been lit.

Mrs Knight, of Hailgate, Howden, had not been wearing a seat belt so could have escaped from the car, Mr Ashton added.

Julie Windass, a family support worker, said she had worked with Mrs Knight for three years. She had a neurological disability and she was supporting her in trying to get back to work.

A community psychiatric nurse had been seeing Mrs Knight daily. “She was very down,” said Ms Windass.

Ms Windass said she became suspicious when Mrs Knight’s car disappeared, as Mrs Knight did not normally go out. A petrol can was also found to be missing, and there was no reply when Ms Windass rang her client’s mobile phone.

The coroner, recording his verdict, said: “This has been a case of someone deliberately setting fire to herself and the car.”