Credit card woes blamed for suicide

BRIGHTON AND HOVE, England, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- A woman in the British town of Brighton likely killed herself due in part to large credit card debts, her mother says.

Maureen Ashing said her 34-year-old daughter, Claire, had been routinely pressured by credit card companies regarding mounting debts during the months before her June suicide, The Daily Mail reported Friday.

"One credit card company even sent a threatening letter after she had died," Ashing said of her daughter, who owed the companies more than $73,000.

"They were threatening to send in the bailiffs if she did not honor some of what she owed."

Ashing found her daughter's body in her basement apartment after the woman apparently taped a plastic bag and pillow over her head.

Frances Walker of the Consumer Credit Counseling Service said Claire Ashing's situation probably could have been rectified if she had sought help.

"Unfortunately we do hear about these cases from time to time and they are particularly tragic because of course the debt problem," she told The Daily Mail, "if people can seek help, can always be solved."