Daniel Barnett and daughter Deborah, 10. A tragic mum struggling to cope with her severely autistic daughter drowned herself the day after social services told her they would not give her child residential care. See Masons story MNAUTISM. Carol Barnett, 51, took her own life by walking into a river just hours after a meeting with social services, an inquest heard. She died on June 9 this year after walking into the River Medway at East Peckham, Kent. Just minutes before she had rung her husband Daniel Barnett, 51, and told him that she could not cope anymore. Her daughter Deborah, 10, who was diagnosed with autism at 18 months old, cannot talk, is incontinent, cannot wash or dress herself and requires 24 hour care. The hearing at Maidstone, Kent, heard that social services had continually refused to send her to a residential school which would provide the constant care she needs. Speaking after the inquest Mr Barnett, 51, said he believed the meeting with social services the night before she took her own life pushed his wife over the edge. Speaking after the inquest, he said: "Carol kept asking about residential options but the social worker kept saying no. The next morning she took her own life.