Investigation and inquest
Kay Michelle Martin (referred to herein as Kay Richardson) was born on 26th December 1968 and died on 21st September 2018, aged 49 years. The cause of her death was Strangulation and Blunt Force Head Injury.
I opened and adjourned an Inquest into her death as part of my Investigation on 27th September 2018.
The Inquest was heard on 22nd August 2019 when I gave a conclusion that Kay Richardson was unlawfully killed and further recorded that:-
‘Kay Michelle Martin (nee Richardson) died on 21st September 2018 at 00:30 hours at ████████ Sunderland following a brutal and sustained attack.’
Circumstances of the death
Kay Richardson had a volatile relationship with her husband████████. They were joint owners of the matrimonial home at ████████ in Sunderland.
Between 1st January 2011 and 12th September 2018 there were 12 reported incidents of domestic abuse.
On 8th September 2018 ████████ was arrested for assault and rape and later released that day by the Police under investigation. The keys to the former matrimonial home were returned to ████████
Kay Richardson was assessed by the Police as being high risk.
On 17th September 2018 Kay Richardson attended the Family Court and was granted a non-molestation order. ████████ was served with that order (and other papers including a detailed statement about his behaviour) on 18th September 2018 with a return date of 26th September 2018 to the Family Court to consider the continuation of the non-molestation order and for the Judge to consider making an Occupation Order to exclude ████████ from the family home.
On the evening of 19th September 2018 ████████ gained entry to the family home with his keys, hid upstairs, subjected Kay Richardson to catastrophic injuries to cause her death before ████████ taking his own life by hanging.
Coroner’s concerns
I was concerned to hear that from 8th August 2018 to 18th September 2018 Kay Richardson had no protection in place. ████████ was only under investigation by the Police and was not subject to any conditions of police bail or other restrictions such as confiscation (or encouragement) to surrender his family home keys, all of which may have acted as a deterrent.
I was wondering whether you would review these procedures and resources available to protect victims of domestic abuse to prevent future deaths arising.