Jacqui Head, who was found dead at her home two weeks ago and whose funeral takes place tomorrow, was winning a lifelong fight against drug addiction, according to her husband Andy.

Mrs Head, 51, was found dead at home in Chiminage Close, Marlborough, on June 29.

And while some people assumed she died of an overdose, her husband did not believe it was the case.

In a frank interview this week Mr Head said he believed she died from organ failure caused by her addiction to drugs and drink.

Mr Head, a coffee machine service engineer, told how he first saw Jacqui hitchhiking near Bournemouth.

“I had my two children with me after my marriage break-up and when we got to her home she invited us in for a coffee.”

It was just a few days before Christmas and in her house he saw a scrawny Christmas tree with no lights or decorations and said: “She had no money, nothing.”

On Boxing Day he had a call-out to Bournemouth so he gathered up chocolates, fruit and nuts from his home and took them to her.

They met more frequently and he gradually learned about her addiction to heroin and alcohol and they married in Marlborough in 1998 .

“I loved her to bits and she was a good mother to Jack,” said Mr Head.

After a voluntary detox course at home “she never touched heroin again,” said her husband.

She was on prescription drugs for sciatica and sleeping difficulties but she kept her promise never to take heroin said Mr Head.

Despite a seven year abstinence from alcohol, so-called friends in Marlborough began to ply her with drink, said Mr Head, and she battled with alcoholism. The weekend before her death she had collapsed while walking home and was taken to Great Western Hospital but no cause was discovered and Mr Head was allowed to take her home where she died three days later.

The funeral for her takes place at Thatcham Crematorium tomorrow.