A CHILDREN’S nurse was found dead in her Bournemouth flat seven years after she is believed to have died, an inquest has heard.

The mummified body of Anne Gabrielle Leitrim, who worked at Homerton University Hospital in London, was discovered after bailiffs came to repossess her home after she failed to make mortgage repayments.

Ms Leitrim had worked at the hospital for seven years.

A spokesman from the hospital said “several attempts” were made to contact her after she did not attend work and it was “not unusual” for staff to leave without giving notice.

He added: “At the time there was a very high turnover of nursing staff particularly in the area where she worked.”

She is believed to have been 58-years-old when she died.

Yesterday an inquest into her death was opened and adjourned at Bournemouth Coroner’s Court. 

The court heard that her body was discovered at her ground floor flat in Tolpuddle Gardens, Throop, on June 24.

Coroner’s officer Allan Young said the nurse, who was originally from Scotland, was found lying on her back underneath her bed.

County court bailiffs, who had been instructed to repossess the flat by the bank, made the grim discovery after entering the property through a window. 

Mr Young said: “Police were called and found the calendar on the wall was dated 2007.”

He added: “Police carried out enquiries with the neighbours, who thought the occupier of the flat had moved out as they had not seen her.”

Coroner for East Dorset, Sheriff Payne, was told Ms Leitrim’s body was identified by DNA profiling.

After conducting a post mortem examination, Dr Vipul Foria, consultant pathologist at Royal Bournemouth Hospital, recorded the cause of death as “unascertained”, the court was told. 

Mr Payne adjourned the inquest until a preliminary date in October to allow further enquiries to be made.

A spokesman from Dorset Police said the death was not being treated as suspicious.