An inquest into the death of a young mum-of-three who went into cardiac arrest just hours after she was discharged from hospital has restarted.

Sian Hollands, 25, died on Sunday, November 15, 2015 at Darent Valley Hospital but an inquest was not opened until January 30 this year.

It was called off two days later after it emerged that a witness required legal representation and got underway again yesterday - 498 days after Sian died.

The Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust accepted seven failures that contributed to her death, but an admission that the decision to discharge her was "inappropriate" was disputed by Dr Kamran Khan back in January and he now has a barrister to represent him.

Yesterday Gravesend's Old Town Hall once again heard how the former drug addict, of Priory Hill in Dartford, had been taken to hospital on Saturday, November 14, 2015 after complaining of severe pain in her chest and stomach, and breathing difficulties.

Mum Nicola Smith told the inquest that Sian had been "in such high spirits" just days before falling ill, not long after she had been released from prison and suffered an ectopic pregnancy, and she was on a methadone programme to help get her life back on track.

However, Sian had not taken her pills for three days by the time she was taken to hospital and both she and A&E staff put her symptoms down to that.

Nurse Dr Leila Mohamed said: "Dehydration and methadone withdrawal could both have explained her symptoms.

"She did not present me with any symptoms or signs of a pulmonary embolism."

A pulmonary embolism is a hard to identify clot that prevents blood reaching the lungs and was given as the medical cause of Sian's death by pathologist Dr Ann Fleming.

Sian's partner Carl Alleyne spent time with her in hospital on the day she died and told the inquest that nurses said Sian's tests - taken on the Saturday evening and Sunday morning - had come back fine.

Dr Mohamed admitted she had no experience of dealing with patients having withdrawal from methadone or heroin, but defended her assessment of Sian.

She said: "You can tell from looking at a patient if they look well or unwell. You don't just rely on numbers and figures.

"She told me she had no chest pain. The patient knows best."

Notes taken by paramedics on the ambulance that took Sian to hospital included her shortness of breath and difficulty walking, as well as chest pain, but Dr Mohamed said she did not have a copy of the notes when she checked on her condition.

Sian was given the all-clear to leave the hospital at 3.30pm on the Sunday but Mr Alleyne refused to take her home after being told by nurses that they "needed the bed space".

Sian never left the hospital and had spent much of the afternoon in a wheelchair when she went into cardiac arrest, dying at just before 10pm.

The inquest continues today.