A Bristol shop manager fell into a life of prostitution and drug addiction when she became depressed after the birth of her second child, a coroner's court heard.

Christine Browne died at the age of 37, four days before Christmas in 2007, after almost 10 years as a heroin addict. She died at the home of Douglas Wright, whom she lived with for six years after meeting him while she worked as a prostitute in Fishponds.

Mr Wright tried to get her off drugs, but bought heroin for her and drove her to work when he realised he couldn't get her to stop.

Flax Bourton Coroner's Court heard that as a young woman, Miss Browne had a responsible job as a shop manager. But she developed post-natal depression after the birth of her second child, and split from her partner.

In 1999 she moved in with a heroin addict in Barton Hill, and became addicted herself. She admitted her problem to her family, but after she moved to a different address they lost touch with her.

Miss Browne started working as a prostitute to pay for her heroin, and it was while she was on the streets that she met Mr Wright, a man who was much older than her.

The court heard that in 2002 he took her into his home in Cherrywood Rise, Worle, and during the next few years spent thousands of pounds trying to stop her addiction. Mr Wright told the court that he paid for her heroin habit so she could stop working on the streets.

Mr Wright said: "I didn't like the thought of her going out. I tried to get her to rehab, but she was scared stiff of it. She was on about five or six wraps a day, at £50 or £60 a day, and I got it down over three years to about one wrap a day. She was living a different lifestyle, going out in the country, taking an interest in the garden and growing tomatoes. We got on really well."

But after three years Mr Wright's money ran out, and Miss Browne decided to go back out to work.

She developed a bad ulcer on her leg, thought to be from using needles, and became confined to the house. As she couldn't get out, Mr Wright would buy heroin for her.

He said: "She was in agony when she wasn't on it. I was between the devil and the deep blue sea. Do you not let her have it and let her suffer? I am afraid I am soft, and I didn't want to see her suffer."

Mr Wright told the court that Miss Browne died at his house on December 21, 2007. She asked him to help her from a chair in the kitchen, and as he did, she died in his arms. He was later arrested in connection with supplying her with heroin and was cautioned.

Miss Browne's family, including her mother, brothers and sisters told the court that when they went to Mr Wright's house there were 200 needles there.

He sister Eleanor said in a statement: "I am very concerned that he supplied her with heroin just before she died, and also that he gave her money for drugs and drove her to buy them. I am not sure if her death could have been avoided if he had acted differently."

Giving a narrative verdict, assistant deputy coroner Terence Moore found that Miss Browne died of acute morphine toxicity and drug dependence.

He said there was no evidence of an overdose, but rather her death was the culmination of a long dependence on heroin.