A family has shared their heartbreak after losing their “happy” and “fun-loving” sister.

Caroline Forte was 35 when she was found dead at her parents’ home at Clifton Hill, Brighton, on February 20 last year.

She had been sectioned under the mental health act and was on a home visit.

In an inquest into her death which began in Brighton today, the family gave evidence and told of their heartbreak at losing her.

Caroline was the youngest of four children in the Forte family and a “loving” aunt to her three nieces and two nephews.

Liz Forte, one of Caroline’s older sisters, told the inquest: “We have lost a clever, kind, loving member of our family and we are all heartbroken.

“We miss her every day.”

Liz, who lives in Hove, told the inquest at the Leonardo Hotel in Stroudley Road, Brighton, how Caroline had been through a break up during the pandemic, which had impacted her mental health severely.

Her mental health had been “quickly deteriorating” in the latter part of 2021, Liz said and, due to concerns for her welfare, Caroline had been staying with Liz.

She then went up to Leeds to stay with her sister Sandra. After two overdoses in January 2022, she was sectioned under the mental health act.

Doctors from Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust gave evidence on their reason for detaining Caroline and her stay in St James’s University Hospital in Leeds.

She was then moved to Amberley Ward, the psychiatric unit of Eastbourne District General Hospital, to be nearer to her wider family, where she remained sectioned.

In their witness statements, the family said they were not given advice about Caroline’s care plan.

Liz told the inquest: “Her 35 years are not defined by this relatively short illness. We will continue to treasure our memories of her.”

The inquest continues.