A mother of three was unlawfully killed after a convicted serial sex offender coerced her into taking sleeping tablets so he could sexually assault her while unconscious, an inquest has ruled.
Kelly Faiers, 61, was found by paramedics in Minehead, Somerset, on October 15, 2023. Her partner, Richard Scatchard, 70, a predator with previous convictions for rape, indecent assault, attempted kidnap, and drugging victims, had called for an ambulance.
Scatchard, who had been convicted of preying on four women, had been jailed for life in 2001 but was released on a life license in 2013. He relocated to Minehead in 2020 and met Ms. Faiers, concealing his criminal past and his relationship from authorities as required by his license.
An inquest at Somerset Coroner’s Court heard that officers at the scene wanted to arrest Scatchard on suspicion of manslaughter but were overruled by a duty detective sergeant. Those officers expressed confusion and frustration, feeling their concerns were dismissed. The police watchdog previously concluded that Avon and Somerset Police provided an “unacceptable” level of service to Ms. Faiers’s family.
Senior coroner Samantha Marsh concluded that Ms. Faiers had been coerced into taking excessive quantities of sleeping tablets by Scatchard, with whom she had been in a relationship for several months. The coroner described the relationship as controlling and coercive, noting Scatchard's messages expressing a desire to see Ms. Faiers unconscious.
Messages revealed Ms. Faiers expressed discomfort with this, stating, “I don't particularly like that, I hate loss of control!!!” When she attempted to end the relationship, she was bombarded with approximately 400 messages in a single day.
Scatchard told paramedics Ms. Faiers had consumed alcohol and taken about 10 sleeping pills. A toxicology report confirmed alcohol levels around three times the drink-drive limit. The coroner determined that while Ms. Faiers was intoxicated, her death resulted from a combination of alcohol and the antihistamine diphenhydramine, which proved fatal when working together.
Ms. Faiers was discovered with her trousers and underwear lowered. The coroner ruled that the sleeping tablets found in her system belonged to Scatchard and inferred he coerced her into taking a higher dose than therapeutic. The coroner stated that Ms. Faiers’s actions on the day of her death appeared to stem solely from Scatchard’s coercive behavior.
The coroner acknowledged the tragic nature of the relationship, suggesting Ms. Faiers, who was lonely, preferred Scatchard’s company to being alone. However, she noted that Ms. Faiers had not introduced Scatchard to her children and that colleagues had warned her of red flags. The coroner added that if the relationship had been disclosed to her family, they might have provided safeguarding or discovered Scatchard's true identity.
Concluding, the coroner stated that Scatchard’s coercion of an intoxicated Ms. Faiers into taking an excess quantity of sleeping pills led to her death, though she did not believe the death itself was intended. She found Scatchard intended to stupefy and incapacitate Ms. Faiers to have his way with her.
Following the discovery of Ms. Faiers's body, Scatchard vanished the next day, leading to a manhunt that ended when his body was found in a caravan weeks later. The coroner announced she would be writing to Avon and Somerset Police to express concerns about the decision not to arrest Scatchard at the scene.