Kelly Faiers, 61, was found dead from a combination of sleeping tablets and alcohol inside the home of her partner, Richard Scatchard, a convicted sex offender with a history of drugging women to commit sexual assaults, an inquest has heard. Her death initially was treated as non-suspicious, but a murder investigation was launched after police uncovered evidence of Scatchard's previous convictions.
Scatchard's Criminal History
Somerset Coroner's Court heard that Scatchard, 70, had a long history of sexual offending dating back to the 1980s, including attempted rape, sexual assault, and administering drugs to obtain sex. He was jailed for life in 2000 with a minimum term of five years and four months. Senior coroner Samantha Marsh described his modus operandi: he would meet women through dating websites or lonely hearts ads, administer unknown drugs to cause unconsciousness, and then commit sexual acts while photographing or videoing them.
Relationship with Kelly Faiers
Scatchard was released from prison in April 2013 and moved to Minehead in 2020. Faiers, who worked at Bristol Airport, met him on a dating website and had been in a relationship for about six months before her death. She was a 'high-functioning' alcoholic, her family said. Colleagues reported that Scatchard had a fantasy of having sex with her while she was unconscious through drugs and alcohol. He was controlling and often criticised her appearance.
Claire Blick, Faiers' work supervisor, said: 'I told Kelly she needed to get out of that relationship. Kelly replied saying she would never take anything without knowing what was going to happen.' On one occasion, Faiers came to work with a black eye and wore sunglasses to cover it.
Disturbing Text Messages
Colleague Daniel Cepek said Faiers told him about text messages from Scatchard: 'He asked her what flowers she would like to have at a funeral, and she was his sex slave and that she belonged to him.' Another colleague, Jason Hemmings, said Faiers told him Scatchard had a fantasy of her taking enough drugs and alcohol to become unconscious so he could have sex with her.
Post-Mortem Findings
A post-mortem examination by pathologist Dr Amanda Jeffery found Faiers died from the combined effects of alcohol and sleeping tablets. She was nearly three times the drink-drive limit, and the concentration of sleeping tablets suggested 'an excess number of tablets'. Dr Jeffery noted: 'It is not possible to determine from the pathology or the toxicology whether Kelly took the tablets willingly or knowingly. It cannot exclude spiking.'
Empty blister packets of sleeping tablets and Viagra were found at Scatchard's home. Text messages between Scatchard and Faiers in the days before her death were 'highly sexualised on the part of Richard Scatchard and dismissive on the part of Kelly'. He made explicit comments about bondage, rough sex, and anal penetration, and said she should do as she was told. Faiers responded that she did not like loss of control.
The inquest continues in Taunton.
