A teaching assistant killed herself because she could not cope with her job.

Julie Palmer was found hanging in her garden shed by her mother who had gone to check on her.

Ms Palmer, 43, helped special needs children at Hawkes Farm Primary School, Hailsham.

Jean Hazell, her mother, said her daughter was “brilliant” with the children she helped.

But she was worried about coping with the academic side of her work as it became more challenging, an inquest at Eastbourne was told yesterday.

Mrs Hazell said she helped her daughter update her CV and apply for new jobs and went with her to see her doctor the day before she died.

Ms Palmer, a divorcee who lived alone, was prescribed anti-depressants and sleeping tablets during the visit on September 8 last year.

Mrs Hazell said she and one of her daughter’s neighbours searched the house in Lansdowne Gardens, Hailsham, after she didn’t get an answer on the phone.

There was no sign of her inside the house but they found a note saying: “I am sorry. I love you, Julie.”

Mrs Hazell said she panicked and rang the police thinking her daughter had wandered off in a distressed state.

She went out into the back garden and paced up and down while she waited for the police to arrive.

She said: “I don't know what made me look in the garden shed. I found her hanging from a beam in there.”

Pathologist Dr Jane Mercer confirmed that Ms Palmer had died as a result of hanging.

Mrs Hazell said her daughter had tried to hang herself after her marriage ended eight years ago.

She said she was told that Ms Palmer had also tried to cut her wrists before.

She added: “She was an up and down sort of person. She was very worried about going back to work after the summer holidays.

“She dealt with special needs kids and followed them as they went up the school and the work they did got harder.

“She was brilliant with the kids but academically she struggled.”

Coroner Joanne Pratt recorded a verdict of suicide.