Lottery winner killed by train had struggled to cope with £500,000 jackpot that friends say was 'the worst thing that ever happened to her

A lottery winner was killed by a train after years of struggling to cope with her £500,000 scratchcard jackpot, an inquest was told.  

Former ballet dancer Helen Ford, 54, was able to buy an apartment in the seaside town on Penarth, near Cardiff, with her winnings, but friends described the windfall as 'the worst thing that could ever happen to her'.

An inquest into her death at Cardiff Coroner's Court was told she had struggled to manage her finances after the lottery win in September 2003, and was living with bipolar personality disorder.

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Lottery winner Helen Ford (pictured) struggled to cope with her finances after winning £500,000 on a scratchcard in 2003,  an inquest into her death was told

An assistant coroner ruled there was not enough evidence to determine whether she had intended to take her own life in the incident.

Unmarried Miss Ford had won the jackpot prize as part of a hat-trick of wins in one day, scooping £45 on her first scratchcard, then the big prize and later a further £50 on the National Lottery.