A distraught Sudbury mum whose daughter fell to her death has slammed an "archaic, disgusting law" which means her memory will be "forever stigmatised".

"Bubbly" 33-year-old Emma Fraser died when she fell from a two-storey window at her Halstead flat in June 2020.

Originally, the coroner for Essex ruled that the former Sudbury Upper School pupil had "launched herself from a window" after smoking a single joint of cannabis.

Believing this to be inaccurate and an affront to her memory, the family fought for a year to have the verdict overturned in the High Court.

They succeeded in December 2021 after the coroner admitted his conclusion was not supported by evidence.

But when Emma's 63-year-old mum Cheryl Fraser received her daughter's amended certificate two weeks ago, she was horrified to see the original inquest conclusion still read "drug-related death".

It was only at the bottom, outside of the certificate, that an amendment corrected this to "accidental death caused by injuries suffered in a fall from a height while suffering from a paranoid delusion".

The family immediately began asking questions of the Home Office – and discovered the Births and Deaths Registration Act of 1953 prevents the re-issuing of a new death certificate unless a new inquest is held.

A spokeswoman for the department said if the verdict alone is quashed, it appears by way of a "marginal note" on the original entry.

But the family say they will continue fighting to have Emma's name cleared.

"It's one of the craziest laws I've ever heard", said Ms Fraser. "It's archaic and disgusting that my daughter can't have a new death certificate.

"Not even the barristers helping had any idea this was the case.

"If you weren't looking for it you wouldn't even read the note. Now she's going to be forever stigmatised.

"Really, what I have now is a false document."

Ms Fraser's brother Karl Mayes said he will stop at nothing until the law is overturned.

"Eventually, I know 'drug-related death' will be gone from Emma's death certificate because this affects our family history," he said.

"Everyone will think there was no smoke without fire."

His MP James Cartlidge has promised to raise the case with the Ministry of Justice.