A 61-year-old mother of three was found dead in the home of a convicted serial sex offender, an inquest has revealed. Police did not arrest the man, Richard Scatchard, 70, at the scene because they did not initially consider Kelly Faiers's death suspicious.
Paramedics discovered Faiers dead in the Minehead, Somerset, property on October 15, 2023, after Scatchard called for an ambulance. Scatchard, who had used the alias Richard Dunlop, had a history of offenses in the 1980s and 1990s, including rape, indecent assault, attempted kidnap, and drugging victims. He was convicted of preying on four women, whom he met online or through personal ads, by drugging and sexually assaulting them while they were unconscious.
Sentenced to life in 2001, Scatchard was released in 2013 on a life license. He had previously lived in Cheshire, where he was in a relationship that was known to police and probation services. He relocated to Minehead in 2020 and met Faiers.
Despite Scatchard's criminal history, officers who attended the scene of Faiers's death did not make an arrest. Faiers's family were informed she had died suddenly and were advised to contact the coroner. Police returned to the property the following day to check on Scatchard's welfare, but he was not there and subsequently vanished. A manhunt ensued, and his body was found in a caravan weeks later.
It was not until November that authorities informed the public and Faiers's family that Scatchard was a suspect in a murder investigation. Faiers's children reportedly learned of his criminal past through internet searches.
A toxicologist report presented at the inquest indicated that Faiers died from a combination of alcohol and Diphenhydramine, an over-the-counter antihistamine often used as a sleeping aid, which can be fatal in large doses. Messages between Faiers and Scatchard suggested he had encouraged her to take numerous tablets and expressed a desire to have sex with her while she was unconscious.
Friends of Faiers stated she had expressed a desire to end the relationship and was seeing a new partner. Her manager at Bristol Airport noted he was "shocked but not surprised" by her death, recalling Faiers's accounts of Scatchard's attempts to coerce her into taking drugs to facilitate sexual assault. Colleagues confirmed Faiers had vowed to end the relationship.
In the weeks prior to her death, Faiers reportedly sustained a black eye, which she attributed to falling, but told her daughters it occurred while staying at Scatchard's home. The police watchdog previously concluded that Avon and Somerset Police provided an "unacceptable" level of service to Faiers's family following her suspected killing. The inquest is ongoing.