Teacher died after being 'traumatised' when she was stripped by police
Published: 13:51 GMT, 30 January 2025
A teacher died after being 'traumatised' when she was stripped and left naked in a police cell, an inquest has heard.
Jorja Watt, 27, had been looking forward to starting a job in Costa Rica when she was discovered dead at her friend's home in September.
The tragedy came just months after Ms Watt, from Lancashire, had been arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker during a night out.
Jorja, who had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder, was 'stripped and left naked in a cell', Preston Coroner's Court heard.
Jorja's mother, Maria, told the court that her daughter had been left 'traumatised' by the incident and feared it would ruin her teaching career, having already studied for six years to bag her dream job.
The experience caused Jorja's mental health to spiral out of control, leading to her visiting 'drug dens' where she would 'self-medicate' with prescription pills, LancsLive reported.
The troubled teacher - described as a 'free spirit' by her mother - would often go to her friend Charlie's home in Heysham following her 'self-medication' sessions.
The coroner's court heard how Jorja was found unresponsive at Charlie's home on the morning of September 1.
The inquest heard that before she visited Charlie's home, Jorja had been at the house of another friend nicknamed 'Tall Gill' to collect one of her bags.
One of Jorja's friends later told police: 'Jorja had been to this person's house, seen a bottle of brown liquid on the side and said "I'm taking that".'
Detailing how Jorja was later found 'unresponsive', Charlie's mother Voirrey Wilde told the court: 'At around 1 o'clock I woke up to Charlie shouting "Jorja!" repeatedly.
'I knew something was wrong. I found her slumped on the sofa. Her lips were blue and she was unresponsive.'
A post-mortem examination showed the 27-year-old had several prescription medications in her system at the time of her death - including heroin substitute, methadone.
The court also heard she had been taking painkillers due to a wound on her leg for which she had previously been admitted to hospital.
Her cause of death was listed as multi-medication toxicity with Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder listed as a contributory factor.