A consultant psychiatrist told an inquest it was probable that the anti-depression drug Prozac contributed to a 52-year-old librarian's death.

Dr David Healey, director of the North Wales Department of Psychological Medicine in Bangor, was giving evidence at the inquest into the death of Wendy Hay who was found hanged in the garage of her home in Arthington, near Otley, last September.

Mrs Hay suffered from clinical depression and her husband, Professor Alastair Hay, professor of environmental toxicology at Leeds Univer-sity, has raised concerns about the role of Prozac in her illness.

Professor Hay, who wiped away tears as he told Leeds Coroner's Court how he discovered his wife's body, embarked on his own study into the links between Prozac and suicidal thoughts in patients after his wife's death.

Today Dr Healey said the combination of some clinical studies on Prozac and records of Mrs Hay's case had led him to conclude: "On the balance of probabilities, the drug contributed to her suicide and she possibly wouldn't have committed suicide if she wasn't on this drug.

"She wasn't taking her own life with the usual intent."

He said studies involving healthy people had shown some people could develop suicidal tendencies after taking Prozac.

"This drug can make healthy people who aren't remotely thinking of suicide suicidal," said Dr Healey.

Asked by Leslie Thomas, representing Professor Hay, what measures should be taken to prevent another such tragedy, he said stronger warnings should be issued about the possible side effects of Prozac.

The court heard Mrs Hay first developed clinical depression at the end of 1998.

According to her husband - a leading expert on chemical and biological warfare - there were a number of events which could have triggered her illness, including an incident where she tried to help two motorcyclists who died in a dramatic accident outside her home.

Mrs Hay was put on Prozac for the first time during a stay in hospital but came off the drug two years later when her symptoms improved.

The court heard she was put back on the drug in August last year after her clinical depression recurred. A few weeks later Mrs Hay tried to drown herself in the River Wharfe. She died about a fortnight later.

The inquest continues.