MYSTERY surrounds the death of a teenager who took an overdose of paracetamol.

A Selby inquest heard that Toni Gowland, 17, was thought to have taken up to 56 tablets to kill the pain after having three teeth out.

But North Yorkshire coroner Geoff Fell recorded an open verdict, saying he was not convinced the overdose had anything to do with toothache.

He said: "I'm not sure the dental treatment is of any significance whatsoever because her teeth were extracted ten days before she was taken ill."

The former Sherburn High School pupil was almost paralysed, unable to walk or talk, when she died from multi-organ failure due to paracetamol poisoning.

Faye Bedford, of Ousegate, Selby, told the inquest that Toni had been having trouble with her boyfriend and every time she saw him she got upset.

She said: "Toni was always happy and smiling but could sometimes take things seriously.

"Since I've known her she has suggested twice that she might harm herself. I told her not to be so stupid because a lot of people loved her."

Dentist Nathan Green said in a statement said that the three extractions were routine, with no complications. Toni's father, Alan Gowland, 36, of Brotherton, near Selby, said it would surprise him if she had taken an overdose deliberately. He said she was happy and had never mentioned taking her life.

Updated: 11:06 Thursday, March 06, 2003