An inquest heard how David Cole, 36, and girlfriend Leonie Roberts, 28, made a suicide pact but for reasons that are unclear, Mr Cole survived

A woman who died in a suicide pact with her boyfriend left a note in her diary begging people not to blame her partner - who survived.

An inquest heard how David Cole stole gas canisters and £11,000 from the pub he worked at in Bromsgrove so that he and girlfriend Leonie Roberts, 28, could live out their last days in style.

They bought a car for £2,000 and went to London where they went to the zoo, gambled in a casino and stayed in a hotel. They then drove until they ran out of petrol on the A387 near Loe, an inquest heard.

The couple, who had made the suicide pact days before, then sat down together and let off the canisters.

But despite experts saying they could release enough gas to kill someone very quickly, Cole, 36, survived the toxic dose, for reasons that remain unclear.

People spotted the car with steamed up windows in the layby the next day and when police investigated, he said 'I might as well tell you', and went on to explain that Miss Roberts' body was wrapped up in bedding in the back.

Mechanical engineer David Teasdale told the coroner: 'I cannot give any reason why the male survived and the female did not if they both remained in the vehicle.'

Cornwall Coroner Dr Emma Carlyon heard Miss Roberts, from Chepstow, Monmouthshire, suffered abuse in a traumatic childhood and struggled with depression.

She concluded: 'I have found that it is probable Leonie Roberts killed herself in a suicide pact. The medical cause of death is poisoning.'

Miss Roberts, 28, was found dead in a silver Ford Mondeo car in a lay by on the A387 near Looe, Cornwall, one day in July 2013.

Police arrested Cole after he admitted they have travelled to Cornwall to end their lives and in August Cole was jailed for four years after he admitted her manslaughter at Exeter Crown Court.

He had denied murder and the prosecution accepted his plea to unlawful killing.

At his court hearing in August, Judge Francis Gilbert QC told Cole, of Havant, Hampshire: 'You must bear the responsibility for encouraging and assisting her to carry out her settled intent to kill herself. Your position should have been to dissuade her.'

The judge said Cole was highly culpable because he stole the gas and cash used in the planned suicide pact some days before the actual incident.

Cornwall Coroner Dr Emma Carlyon heard Miss Roberts, from Chepstow, Monmouthshire, suffered abuse in a traumatic childhood and struggled with depression before ruling that the cause of death was suicide

The court heard drivers saw a car with steamed up windows on the morning of the incident and Cole appeared to be asleep in the driver's seat.

The prosecution said Cole at one point got out of the car to have a smoke and police did not turn up at the scene until 6pm and Cole was again asleep but evasive when he woke up.

He told them her body was in wrapped up in the car and police also found her diary and notebook.

The court heard she had tried to kill herself before with an overdose of pills. Three days before her death she texted Cole to say 'let's kill ourselves together'.

The diary revealed she had 'enjoyed the last few days of her life' and praised Cole for being 'fantastic' but hoped he would not 'bottle out because her decision was solid'.

The court heard only one of the canisters had its valve fully open and he woke up the next day feeling sick and shaking.

Richard Smith, QC, defending Cole, said: 'She had arrived at an independent decision to take her own life.'

He said Miss Roberts thought Cole 'might be blamed for the pact' but in her own words in her diary said 'don't blame him'.