A 22-year-old woman who went missing in Oxford and was found dead in the river Thames had lost touch with reality, her inquest heard today. 

Emily Stiff had a history of depression and an eating disorder, but had declined an offer of a professional assessment for bipolar disorder, it was revealed.

Her father Matthew Stiff told Oxford Coroner's Court that in the days before her death her erratic behaviour had given him and her mother cause for concern.

But he said he did not believe his daughter had committed suicide "in the conventional sense" because she was not herself at the time.

Coroner Darren Salter agreed with that assessment and gave an open conclusion.