A WOMAN who survived jumping out of a first floor window to escape an abusive boyfriend five years ago is "at peace" after being found dead in her York flat, an inquest heard.

Rebecca Major, 36, had a history of using heroin and her death was drug related, Coroner Jon Heath concluded.

The York inquest was told that her body was found at her home in Curzon Terrace, South Bank, last November.

A post mortem concluded that she had suffered respiratory failure associated with heroin use.

A police officer, DC Sarah Scott, said there were no suspicious circumstances and she had found burnt foil in Rebecca’s lounge which suggested drug misuse.

Rebecca’s mother Lorraine McClaren said: “Thank God she is at peace now.”

The inquest heard that Rebecca had suffered a fractured skull and 40 per cent burns in an incident in 2014 which had left her with memory difficulties and post traumatic stress disorder.

The Press’s sister paper The Northern Echo reported in 2015 that her boyfriend Edward McArthur had been jailed for 15 years for pouring petrol over Rebecca and then shutting her in a burning flat in Darlington.

She told the Echo later she was still suffering from serious health issues – both physically and mentally – adding: “He has ruined my life forever. I was always very thin and wore nice clothes. Now I just feel horrible.” She said the amount of medication she was on was "unreal" and she suffered from anxiety and flashbacks.

The Press reported in 2017 that Rebecca had been attacked again, this time by a female former friend.

York Crown Court was told she was dragged to the ground and kicked and punched by Kathleen Salkeld in two separate assaults in Clifton, York.

Salkeld, 23, of Mowden Terrace, Darlington, who was tried in her absence after failing to turn up for her trial, was jailed for three years. The court heard that Rebecca had been brain damaged after the earlier attack by her boyfriend.