A mother-of-two took her own life using a 'suicide kit' delivered to her door by Royal Mail, an inquest has heard. 

Jane Colechin, 44, searched for a deadly chemical online after being signed off from the charity she worked for when a project she was managing lost its funding. 

The mother, who was described as 'loving, fiercely intelligent, vivacious and unfiltered' and secretly suffered from 'severe anxiety', had the chemical delivered to her family home in Forest Gate, east London. 

Ms Colechin's partner, Sean Gleeson, had been staying with friends in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, for New Year's Eve in 2024. 

The inquest heard Ms Colechin insisted he and their twin sons go because she would have been 'heartbroken' had the boys not seen their friends.  

When Mr Gleeson returned to the family home on January 1, he could not find his partner. 

He left his sons with a neighbour and searched the house, where he found Ms Colechin's body in the basement. 

He called an ambulance, which arrived in three minutes, but the mother was already dead. 

A toxicology report found that the chemical was present at 46,860 times higher than in a healthy fasted person. 

In a statement, Detective Constable Sam Drury of the Metropolitan Police said he and his team had been investigating the mother-of-two's death as part of a wider investigation into deaths related to the substance. 

At least five people are thought to have died after ordering the chemical online, including psychologist Zara Ampong-Appiah, who passed away in April last year.

Detective Constable Drury told the inquest at East London Coroner's Court: 'I looked through her mobile phone for keywords relating to this and found 1,360 instances of them between December 1, 2024 and January 1, 2025. 

'She also went onto a website which provides information relating to suicide and the chemical as well as a Royal Mail tracking service for a parcel with the chemical.' 

The inquest also heard from Ms Colechin's partner, who said he had spoken with her about being together for the rest of their lives. 

He told the coroner's court: 'We had a great time. I couldn't have wished for anything more. 

'The boys had someone who understood their needs so well.' 

However, Ms Colechin had struggled with her mental health since the birth of their twin sons in 2017. 

She recovered, but in early 2024 things took a turn for the worse after she and Mr Gleeson both contracted a virus which led to them suffering bouts of insomnia and, in Ms Colechin's case, anxiety.

Around that time she also suffered workplace stress, developed problems with sleep and anxiety and was prescribed the anti-anxiety drug clonazepam.

Mr Gleeson thought his partner was getting better, but she started experiencing further mental health issues later in the year, which were made worse by a growing dependency on benzodiazepines.

She visited her GP a number of times in November and December and was referred to a psychologist.

When her mental health took a further downturn on December 23, she tried to contact the Newham Home Treatment Team, where she had been referred, but was told that she would need to call 111.

Coroner Nadia Persaud said that had the Home Treatment Team been able to see Ms Colechin on December 23 it was 'possible' rather than 'probable' that her death may have been avoided. 

On December 30, she attended A&E at Newham Hospital with anxiety but was told she could not be seen due to the site's psychiatrists only seeing people who had associated physical ailments as well as mental health problems. 

A nurse from Newham's crisis team was able to drive her to the Community Integrated Mental Health Team, but when Ms Colechin said she wanted to see a doctor she was told she would have to wait several hours. 

Medical staff told the inquest that Ms Colechin had presented well, was articulate and denied suicidal thoughts, which meant she was not seen as a risk. 

Instead, she made a same-day appointment with her GP's surgery, with the doctor who saw her prescribing her an increase in medication.

Ms Colechin held a doctorate in political science from the University of Birmingham and worked as a director for the Youth Futures Foundation, a charity which aims to help put young people into work. 

Part of her role was to advise the Department for Work and Pensions on youth employment. 

Following her death, CEO Barry Fletcher, said: 'Jane has been a massive part of Youth Futures since our inception and has been instrumental in shaping the organisation we are today. 

'Jane's passion, humour and infectious belief in the power of evaluation to change young people's lives for the better came across in everything she did. She will be sorely missed.' 

Following Ms Colechin's death, friends raised more than £7,000 for Mr Gleeson to help with costs. 

Suzanne Hu described Ms Colechin as a 'brilliant colleague and beautiful friend to so many of us', describing the loss as 'huge'. 

'She was endlessly empathetic, and gave her time, advice and kind words to anyone who needed them, be they friends or WhatsApp strangers,' she said. 

Returning a conclusion of suicide due to her taking the chemical, coroner Nadia Persaud passed on the court's condolences to Ms Colechin's family and said Mr Gleeson was 'an amazing support' to his late partner.