neighbourhood for his wife, only to discover the next day she had drowned.

Coroner Mrs. Cheryl Mapp ruled 38-year-old Vanessa Simons-Brown's death last year was accidental.

The inquiry concluded the heavily intoxicated ex-school teacher fell off the dock of her Deepwood Drive, Pembrokee residence on the evening of September 20 and drowned.

According to testimony, the former Bermuda High School for Girls teacher was unemployed, experiencing marriage difficulties and drinking heavily on a regular basis at the time of her death.

In a statement to Police, her husband Leonard Brown said his wife had been sitting alone on the dock, which she often did, on the evening of September 20.

When it began to rain around 9 p.m., he went down to the dock to get her because "she was only wearing a t-shirt and bikini'', but he "could not find her anywhere''.

Brown searched the shoreline, dock and surrounding area, but there was no sign of his wife.

He said he drove around the neighbourhood, searched the house twice and checked with friends before calling Police around 11.30 p.m.

Marine Police found Simons-Brown's body the next morning in Fairylands Creek.

Post-mortem tests revealed alcohol levels of 326 and 425 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood, indicating "substantial quantities of alcohol were consumed in the hours before her death''.

Chief pathologist Dr. John Winwick said an autopsy showed her lungs were water-logged, her brain had swelled and there was froth in her mouth, all "consistent with sea water drowning''.