Open verdict on Hurd's daughter-in-law

An open verdict has been recorded on the death of Lord Hurd's daughter-in-law, who died after plunging from the top of her four-storey New York house last year, after a coroner ruled he could not know for sure if she jumped or fell accidentally.

Catherine Hurd, a 46-year-old mother of five who also went by the name Sian, was found in the garden of her Manhattan home on 21 May last year after dropping 60ft and was pronounced dead in hospital.

Police ruled out any suspicion of murder, and Ms Hurd – who took an overdose in 2007 after a nervous breakdown – was said to be anxious and possibly depressed at the time of her death.