Former EastEnders actor Sandy Ratcliff passed away from accidental overdose, inquest hears

She was in the series for four years.

Former EastEnders actor Sandy Ratcliff passed away from an accidental overdose, an inquest has heard. The 70-year-old, who was one of the soap's original cast members from 1985 to 1989, died after taking an overdose of morphine while suffering from two terminal lung conditions. She passed away in her sheltered accommodation in London in April of this year. Sky News reports that Ratcliff's cause of death was listed as bronchopneumonia and morphine toxicity caused by a malignant lung tumour and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The former actor had been prescribed morphine for pain relief the day before her death. She had been discharged from hospital on that same day. Ratcliff also suffered three strokes in the years before her passing, the first of which occurred following her partner's death in 2013. Her son, William Palmer, told the inquest that his mother had been left with chronic pain in her right arm as a result of one of the strokes. She had been prescribed codeine, which she would take for "recreational use." Ratcliff played cafe owner Sue Osman in the long-running BBC soap for four years between 1985 and 1989. She was one of the show's original cast members.