A DIVORCED mother who was unhappy with her weight had tattooed “do not resuscitate” on her chest before suffocating herself with a plastic bag.

Mother-of-one Rebecca Leaper, of Headington, was found dead at her home by her ex-husband after she texted him to say she felt unwell, an inquest heard.

Richard Mason, who knew Ms Leaper for 24 years, had taken their daughter Saskia out for a meal when he received the text.

An inquest at Oxford Coroner’s Court on Wednesday heard how the 54-year-old mum sent a text to Mr Mason as he ate at a nearby restaurant. The text said: “Please come home with Saskia after your meal. There is no rush but I am feeling a bit poorly.”

The father and daughter went to Ms Leaper’s house in Skene Close after their meal to find a note taped to the door.

The scrawled note, written by Ms Leaper herself, said: “I should be dead. Please do not let Saskia in.”

Mr Mason ran inside to find his ex-wife face down on a single bed at the back of the house.

In a statement read to the court, Mr Mason said he called 999 before attempting CPR.

He said: “She had given me no indication that she wanted to end her own life but I was aware she was unhappy about her weight and her current unemployment.

“I found a number of notes addressed to all members of her family, but I did not touch these.”

Assistant coroner for Oxfordshire Jeremy Chipperfield heard that Ms Leaper contacted her GP in March asking him to refer her for bariatric surgery to reduce her weight. Dr Gerald Sacks agreed and said she seemed “cheerful, positive and looking forward to having the surgery”.

GP records read at the inquest revealed that Ms Leaper had a long history of anxiety and depression .

A paramedic at the scene noticed a tattoo on her upper chest saying “do not resuscitate”, but it was not clear when this was done.

Consultant pathologist Professor Ian Roberts recorded the cause of death as suffocation.

Mr Chipperfield said: “The verdict I will record is suicide, and it would seem that at some point she prepared various notes before she did this. All of that would have taken some time – this suggests preparation. It was quite an elaborate procedure.

“I can conclude that she did not expect to be found alive. The notes were unambiguous.”