Stella Elizabeth LeClaire · Prevention of Future Deaths report

On the 1/8/23 a coroner’s investigation was commenced into the death of Stella Elizabeth LeClaire, formerly known as Mia Levy. The inquest was concluded on the 4/12/2025.

1. On the 28/7/23 at 16:46 pm Stella checked into a hotel in Tooley Street, Southwark. Hotel electronic key records showed that she did not leave the room after she checked in. On the 30/7/23 she was discovered unresponsive by hotel staff at 13:45 pm and was subsequently pronounced dead by the ambulance service at 14:56 pm.

2. A police investigation revealed she had sent a farewell email message, to her partner in the United States, timed to be sent at 10:31 am on the 30/7/23, expressing that she could not continue living with constant migraines and nausea and that her health was getting worse. It had not been possible to access Stella’s phone and laptop for logistical reasons, but her partner disclosed the email to the police shortly after receiving it.

3. ████████ in a container recovered from the room, was analysed and found to contain ████████. It is not known who supplied the ████████ to her and the circumstances in which she obtained it.

4. A post-mortem identified the cause of death as 1(a) ████████ toxicity. This finding was inferred from circumstantial evidence by the post-mortem pathologist.

5. A routine toxicology screening report also detected ████████, an antiemetic, which had been taken alongside ████████ in other reported cases.

6. A further toxicology report from a specialist toxicology service, analysed a femoral blood sample, taken at autopsy. This report confirmed the level of ████████ was extremely high and that it was ‘highly likely’ that this caused the death.

7. Stella had taken the ████████ with the intention of ending her own life and I recorded a short form conclusion of “Suicide” in the Record of Inquest.

1. During the course of the inquest I received information from the Toxicology service, that serves my court, that the number of requests by coroners, in 6 coroner areas, for analysis of blood samples for the presence of ████████ had increased since 2021.

2. I am also aware that in the last 5 years prevention of future death reports have been submitted from a number of other coroner areas. In broad terms the reasons for those reports are concerns that the substance is sold ████████ advocating its use in suicides ████████ method.

3. Although there was circumstantial evidence that Stella died from ████████ toxicity, I was at pains to obtain a specialist toxicological analysis of a blood sample. The reason for this was to ensure that if the supplier of the substance can be identified in future the chances of successful prosecution would be improved by direct evidence of the cause of death. I raise this in case the Chief Coroner may wish to consider issuing guidance on whether blood toxicological analysis should be obtained routinely in coroners’ investigations concerning ████████ poisoning.