Mother of two from Uckfield dies at cliffs near Eastbourne

A 41-year-old Uckfield woman died at the cliffs near Eastbourne last year, an inquest heard.

The inquest at Eastbourne Town Hall on Thursday (September 9), heard Caroline Hinchliffe, a secretary from Church Street, died at the cliffs on September 4 2020.

Records from her GP revealed Mrs Hinchliffe was bipolar and was sectioned twice in the months leading up to her death – in June and July 2020.

Records said she was discharged for the second time on August 3. Mental health consultant Michele Travers told the inquest ‘she was doing okay’ at this point.

Tim Hinchliffe, Mrs Hinchliffe’s husband, said she had ‘severe depression and anxiety’ but she led a ‘relatively normal life outside of that’ with a large circle of friends and lots of sporting interests.

The inquest heard that on September 4 Mrs Hinchliffe took her two children to school as normal at 8.15am, but didn’t show up for a vet appointment at 9am that morning.

At 3.53pm, when she hadn’t turned up to her daughter’s birthday party, Mr Hinchliffe called police.

Vehicle checks took officers to Beachy Head, and a coastguard search at 6.10pm resulted in Mrs Hinchliffe’s body being found.

Since her death, nearly £35,000 has been raised for Bipolar UK and The Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team.