A heartbroken wife killed herself the day after her husband was found dead.

The couple had been trying to patch up their stormy marriage but had argued in the hours before Stephen Causley died.

An inquest in Brighton heard yesterday that his wife Nicola, 37, could not forgive herself because the last words that passed between them were spoken in anger.

She was found dead at her flat in Buckingham Place, Brighton, surrounded by empty bottles of alcohol and prescription drugs.

Relatives told the inquest they tried to console Mrs Causley in the hours after her husband's death in the early hours of June 6.

Mrs Causley's twin sister Sharon Perreaux-Slugg said: "When I saw Nicola she was very distressed because the last words they had said were angry words.

"I spent two hours trying to talk her before she asked me to leave. I thought I might have a chance to see her the next day."

But the next morning, at 10am on June 7, she went to visit her sister and found her slumped in a chair, her head face down on a coffee table.

The couple's 18-month marriage had been through a rocky patch, made worse by alcoholism, and Mr Causley had moved out of their shared home, staying at a YMCA hostel in the city.

But the inquest heard they were working to repair the damage on the night of their last argument.

Soon after the row, Mrs Causley rang the hostel requesting they check up on her husband. He was found dead in his bed.

Hostel manager Kate Dodsworth said: "Mr Causley appeared to stabilise and was spending more and more time with his wife in the week before his death.

"He had been on holiday and he was really quite jolly. Despite his drinking we noticed nothing unusual."

Coroner Dr Matthew Orde recorded a verdict of death by acute alcohol poisoning contributed to by anti-depressant drugs on Mr Causley.

He recorded a verdict of suicide on Mrs Causley, saying: "She declared her intent and had a history of depression."