Coroner Rules Partner of Convicted Sex Offender Was Unlawfully Killed

A coroner found Kelly Faiers was unlawfully killed after being coerced by her partner, convicted sex offender Richard Scatchard, into taking excessive sleeping pills leading to her death.

Coroner Finds Kelly Faiers Was Coerced Into Taking Excessive Sleeping Pills

Kelly Faiers was coerced by her partner into taking an excessive number of sleeping pills, a coroner has found.

The partner of a convicted sex offender with a history of drugging and sexually assaulting women was unlawfully killed, a coroner has determined.

Kelly Faiers, 61, from Weston-super-Mare, died on 15 October 2023 at the home of Richard Scatchard, 70, in Minehead, Somerset.

An inquest held over three days at Somerset Coroner's Court heard that Faiers had spoken to colleagues about Scatchard's controlling behaviour.

Samantha Marsh, senior coroner for Somerset, stated that Faiers' relationship with Scatchard had, on balance, been "controlling and coercive," and found that she had been coerced into taking an "excess quantity" of sleeping tablets on the night she died.

Marsh explained that Faiers died from a cardiac arrest caused by a combination of sleeping tablets and alcohol after being found unresponsive in the early hours of the morning.

Before delivering her conclusion, Marsh remarked that coercing an intoxicated person to take tablets was a "dangerous, unlawful act."

"I do not believe he [Scatchard] intended her death to be the result," she added. "He wanted to stupefy her so that he could have his way with her."

An Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation had previously found that Avon and Somerset Police provided an "unacceptable" level of service to Faiers' family.

During the inquest on Tuesday, it was revealed that officers called to the scene were advised by a superior not to arrest Scatchard, despite their knowledge of his previous convictions and concerns about his demeanour.

A murder investigation was launched the day after Faiers' death, but Scatchard had disappeared when officers returned to his home.

He subsequently went missing and was found dead at a caravan park nearby months later.