A "big-hearted" teaching assistant made several desperate attempts to call 999 before being found dead at the bottom of a cliff, an inquest has heard.

Mum-of-one Danyell Sinckler died after falling near South Foreland Lighthouse in Saint Margaret's Bay, Dover, last May.

Now, her family have raised questions over the police's handling of the case, and expressed doubt over whether she took her own life.

This week, the hearing at County Hall in Maidstone was told the tragedy unfolded after the 32-year-old had an argument with her boyfriend, Leon Morris, at the Cramptons pub in Broadstairs.

It became heated and spilled out into the car park, leading to Danyell driving away.

Over the next few hours, she sent a series of messages to her friends, family and Mr Morris stating her intention to end her own life.

In a text sent to her mum, Stephanie Eaton, she said: “I’m thinking about ending it all.”

Ms Eaton replied: “Where are you? I’ll be there in 20 minutes.”

Danyell replied to say she was in Dover, but added: “You’ll be too late.”

Between 9.30pm and 9.40pm, Danyell called 999 three times and 112 twice, but sadly none of these calls connected.

The police could not determine if this was due to poor signal on the cliff-top or if she had ended the calls before they could be answered.

Danyell’s mum spent the rest of the night desperately trying to find her daughter.

Her boyfriend, however, claimed because of poor signal he never received the messages Danyell sent him, which included her exact location, and spent the rest of the night in various Broadstairs bars, the inquest heard.

At one point in her search, Ms Eaton came heartbreakingly close to finding Danyell.

As she scoured Dover, she pulled up to the gates of South Foreland Lighthouse, but drove away after mistaking the entrance for a private driveway.

She now believes if she had driven just metres further up the track, she would have spotted her daughter’s car where she had left it blocking the entrance to the lighthouse with the keys left on the bonnet.

Eventually, Ms Eaton was forced to return home without finding her daughter, but waited until morning to report her missing - as Danyell had begged her mother not to call police as she had been drink-driving.

“We found insufficient evidence to show a direct link between [her romantic partner's] actions and Danyell Sinkler’s death...”

At 10.15am the next morning, Danyell’s body was found by a National Trust worker on the shore.

The inquest heard that despite Danyell having a history of mental health issues, her death came as a shock to loved ones as she had recently graduated from Canterbury Christ Church University and seemed excited about her career plans.

Her cause of death was given as multiple injuries.

On Thursday, the area coroner for central and south east Kent, Katrina Hepburn, adjourned the inquest until May to consider her conclusion after the family raised doubts over whether Danyell took her own life.

They fear her tumultuous relationship with her boyfriend may have been a factor in her death, after reading messages on Danyell's phone when it was released back to them by police.

Ms Hepburn said: “I’ve looked at these messages and I understand you are still concerned about his involvement in her death.

“I take the view that without hearing from Leon Morris, it will be difficult to conclude the inquest. Without hearing from him, we won’t have answers to the questions you are raising.”

The couple had known each other for six years but had recently reconnected romantically at the time of Danyell’s death.

At the inquest, DS Kite said: “We found insufficient evidence to show a direct link between [her romantic partner's] actions and Danyell Sinkler’s death.”

The inquest was adjourned until May, when Mr Morris will be called to give evidence.

"She was big-hearted, a lovely daughter and I was immensely proud of her..."

Speaking after the hearing, Ms Eaton paid tribute to her "big-hearted" daughter, who worked as a teaching assistant and had built her own business as an aesthetician.

She said: "Danyell would go above and beyond for people - she always had a lot of time for everyone.

"She was generous, with her heart and her money. She never liked to think of anyone else being unhappy. If any of her friends were down she’d always want to get them out and have a good time.

"She was big-hearted, a lovely daughter and I was immensely proud of her getting her degree. She was a mum at a young age and she had battled all of these obstacles to get where she wanted to get to.

"She worked in the care industry with young adults with challenging behaviour and they used to really look forward to Danyell going on shift because she seemed to have quite an empathy with them.

"There was one girl who had been non-verbal and Danyell managed to get her singing, which was a real achievement.

"She had worked with elderly people as well and they really loved her, because she was cheeky and she would chat with them and have a laugh."

In 2019, Danyell was interviewed by The Sun about how social media had driven her to spend £7,000 on cosmetic surgery.

She told the newspaper: “I went to consultations with pictures of models on Instagram and said 'that’s how I want to look'."

Danyell detailed the cosmetic surgery she'd had done but said she regretted "changing myself to look like everyone else".

"Social media had created that low self-worth which is not very nice because she was absolutely beautiful..."

She added: "I’ve got body dysmorphia. I just don’t see what other people see now.

“I won’t let my daughter use social media until she’s older. We need to embrace who we are naturally."

Ms Eaton told KentOnline: "Danyell did suffer with body dysmorphia - she never really felt she was good enough - I think like a lot of young girls nowadays.

"Social media had created that low self-worth, which is not very nice because she was absolutely beautiful."

At the time of her death, Danyell was living in Queensbridge Drive, Ramsgate, with a friend. Her 15-year-old daughter had moved out three weeks prior.

Danyell first moved to Kent in 2015, setting up home in Folkestone, before relocating to Ramsgate a year before her death.

She had struggled with her mental health since she was 14 and been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in recent years, the inquest heard.

Despite being prescribed medication for this condition, the post-mortem toxicology report revealed Danyell had not been taking this for at least a week before her death.

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