A much-loved 'kind and caring' mum died two months after she fell from a third-floor window at her flat an inquest heard. Carer Jay Loren Barrington, 31, who her family said had 'the biggest heart', was discovered motionless on the concrete floor outside her Lancashire home in the early hours of New Year's Eve in 2020.
Beforehand Jay, who had a history of mental health issues, had had an argument with her boyfriend Mike Young and had told her boyfriend's young son 'tell him bye' a coroner was told.
Jay, who was born in Blackpool, was rushed to the Royal Preston Hospital where she was admitted to the Critical Care Unit after suffering fractures to her spine and ribs and contusions to her right kidney and liver.
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Over the following weeks, her condition deteriorated and sadly she died on February 12 from multi-organ failure. A coroner, who said he could not be sure what her intentions were, recorded an open conclusion following the hearing, reports Lancs Live.
A statement from Jay's neighbour, Michael Dixon, who lived in the flat opposite her on the third floor of a block on Station Road, Wesham, on the Fylde coast, was read at the inquest heard at Preston Coroner's Court.
In it, Mr Dixon said that the night she fell from the window he had heard Jay arguing with Mr Young. "It was some time close to midnight or just after midnight," he said.
"I started to hear Jay and her partner having an argument. I could hear a female crying and a male shouting. They were arguing about a duvet cover. I heard a knocking on my door, I'm sure it was Jay, I then heard a male voice saying 'what are you doing' then I heard a scuffle.
"I heard her say something about calling the police and I heard the male say she couldn't. I heard him say 'you have to sleep on the sofa' because his children would be in the bedroom. He was saying he wouldn't be able to see his kids anymore because of her."
Two Network Rail employees, who worked at the nearby depot half a mile from Kirkham, also gave a statement to police in which they recalled overhearing the argument between Jay and Mr Young.
Trackman Aaron Stevens said: "I could hear a male voice shouting quite aggressively, he sounded quite confrontational, the female was screaming and sounded panicky and hysterical."
Mr Young, who gave evidence at the inquest, said he had gone into the bedroom, where his children were getting ready for bed, when Jay began to argue with him.
He said she was 'always bringing up my ex missus Becky' and going through his phone to see if he had been in contact with her. "She ended up chucking a bottle at me. I was shouting back. Nothing happened, we were just shouting at each other," he said.
"The argument continued until my eldest came in. I was going to get the kids dressed to take them home. She said she would ring social services and the kids. I got them dressed then I decided to stop and changed them back into their pyjamas.
"[My eldest] then came in and said 'Jay said bye'. I was in the bedroom. I popped my head round the door and the front room door was shut. I went in and the window was wide open. I looked out and she was lying there on the floor."
Jay's mum Bev Livingstone, who attended the inquest, asked Mr Young if the argument had become physical, which he denied. She also asked him about several fingernails which were later found 'all over the carpet' when the flat was examined by detectives.
At this stage Area Coroner Chris Long reminded Mr Young that he did not have to answer a question if it would incriminate himself. However, Mr Young said the couple had not 'had a scuffle' and added: "I haven't done anything."
Detective Sergeant Lee Kelly from Blackpool CID, who took over as the senior investigating officer in the case following the retirement of a colleague, said Jay's mum Bev had called police to report her concerns about her daughter's fall.
DS Kelly said it would have been 'very difficult' to lift someone on to a windowsill against their will and added that Mr Young's son had given a statement in which he said he saw Jay sitting on the windowsill.
"[The investigation] was to establish if there had been any third party involvement or culpability," the detective explained. "We were contacted by Jay's mum a couple of days after the incident because she had concerns about what had happened."
The police investigation, which was hampered by the fact Jay's flat was unsecure in the two days before officers were called, concluded that there were no suspicious circumstances or any evidence that Mr Young had been responsible for Jay's injuries.
Paramedics who were called to the scene also told police that Jay had told them she had jumped from the window. Addressing Jay's mum's question about the fingernails found on the carpet DS Kelly said: "It was a full set.
"Maybe they'd been taken off in anger rather than the odd one or two coming off in a scuffle. The evidence suggested [the fall] was an act of her own volition."
Jay's mum also raised concerns about a Do Not Resuscitate form put on her daughter's file at the Royal Preston Hospital which her notes stated the family 'was in agreement with'.
She said she had instructed a solicitor to advise Lancashire Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, that Jay's family did not agree to a DNR.
Dr Ed Denison-Davies, a consultant at the trust, apologised and said: "I can see that potentially it may not have been made clear. Potentially it could have been made more explicit."
The inquest heard that Jay had a history of mental health issues and had self-harmed in the years before her death. She had previously been diagnosed with Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder and had suffered from postnatal depression.
Despite Jay's background of mental health problems, and the suggestion she may have jumped from the window in order to take her own life, the coroner Mr Long said the evidence did not clearly show what her intentions were. He ruled out conclusions of suicide, accidental death and misadventure and instead returned an open conclusion.
"Jay Loren Barrington died on February 12, 2021, at the Royal Preston Hospital," he said. "Jay was found on the ground beneath her third-floor flat. Jay probably fell from the window in her kitchen. She was taken to hospital where multiple injuries were diagnosed. Jay was treated in intensive care over several weeks but her condition deteriorated and she didn't recover."
In a statement issued to LancsLive after the inquest Jay's family said: "Jay lived for her children and family. She was a much-loved mum, daughter and big sister. She was the kindest, most caring friend anyone could wish for, with the biggest heart. She will forever be loved and missed so much more."
