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Drunk mum on school run who left Royal Marine unable to walk died from overdose after being 'wracked with guilt'

Emma May crashed into Royal Marine Dan Healy (SWNS)
Emma May crashed into Royal Marine Tim Healy (SWNS)

A guilt-wracked mum who almost killed a Royal Marine while drink driving on a school run died from an overdose six months later, her family said yesterday.

Emma May, 34, was found dead by her 16-year-old daughter at her home in June last year after an overdose of painkiller tablets.

Relatives of the mum-of-six said she was trying “self-destruct” in the two years leading up to her death, and had amassed huge debts from cocaine use.

A coroner concluded that her death was drug-related.

But after the inquest her mother Janice Howarth, 57, said her daughter was “a troubled girl” who was “hit hard” by the crash in January 2016.

Emma escaped with a fine after ploughing into 25-year-old Royal Marine Tim Healy at 60mph in Plymouth, Devon.

A court was previously told she lost control of her Vauxhall Zafira while driving to collect her kids from school after a boozy lunch and Healy was left unable to walk.

She sped around a bend on the wrong side of the road on two wheels, and smashed into Healy’s car.

Healy was left unable to walk (SWNS)
Healy was left unable to walk (SWNS)

The former Royal Marine recruit had to be cut free from the wreckage of his Toyota and suffered multiple fractures to his forearm, foot and ankle.

Complications during surgery have left him unable to move properly.

Emma walked free from court with just a 20-month driving ban and a £470 fine after she admitted drink driving — a verdict that the victim heavily criticised.

Janice said her daughter was never the same after the crash.

She added: “She was a brilliant mother. Her children came first and she was very popular and vivacious.

“She definitely felt guilty [after the crash]. I think it must’ve hit her how serious it was getting.

“At the time, she was on alcohol and I think she had issues and didn’t know how to deal with them.”

At her inquest in Plymouth, Devon, coroner Andrew Cox said Emma would have been in pain following the accident and had a genuine need for the Tramadol.

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He said: “She had a road traffic collision and was suffering a lot as a consequence. It seems to me that Emma was an addict and as an addict she had to feed her habit.”

The inquest heard that Emma had stolen her husband’s Tramadol, told doctors her teenage daughter needed drugs and even lied to her GP that her mother had died in order to get her hands on the opioid medication.

Emma also managed to con her GP into giving her more medication than she needed, the inquest was told.

She was later found dead by daughter Abi at her Plymouth home on June 29, 2016. A forensic pathologist ruled the cause of death to be Tramadol toxicity.

Her husband Paul May told the hearing: “She started using cocaine about two years before her death.

May struggled with addiction to drink and drugs (SWNS)
May struggled with addiction to drink and drugs (SWNS)

“I didn’t really catch her red-handed until much later. She was using it often and ran up massive debts.”

He added: “Her health problems were due to her drug and alcohol abuse and prescription tablets.

“One particular time when I knew there was a problem, I had 100 tablets and took 10 with me to work. Come Friday, they were not there. I realised she took them.”

Emma, who was unemployed, had racked up a bill for her cocaine habit of £9,000.

Emma’s GP, Dr Tracey O’Leary, was quizzed at the inquest on why Emma was able to receive so much of the medication.

She told the inquest: “In the 25 years of being a doctor, I have never had someone lie to me about a family member dying to obtain a prescription.

“There was nothing to make me think it was not a genuine request. The relationship I felt I had was based on lies.”