A mother suffocated her nine-year-old son before taking her own life, an inquest has heard. Tasmin Paterson, 31, and Hudson were found dead at a property in the Fletchersbridge area of Bodmin, Cornwall, in September 2024.
Relationship breakdown
The inquest heard that the relationship between Ms Paterson and her partner Marcus Hughes had broken down before he discovered the bodies in a bedroom. Mr Hughes told the court the relationship had become "fraught" and grew strained after she found he had been using a dating site.
He said: "We'd not broken up necessarily but we were on the verges, I felt. She believed it was to do with her ongoing health issues, but there were more things going on than that."
Senior coroner Andrew Cox said: "Mr Hughes was Tasmin's partner at the time of her death and he accepted that, while their relationship had been good and healthy and strong at the outset, that more recently it had run into difficulties."
Health and financial pressures
Ms Paterson had sustained a head injury and subsequent mobility problems, and the couple faced considerable financial and housing pressures. Hudson was described as "poorly" the evening before his death, and his mother said she would share a room with him, which was not unusual.
Mr Hughes had no concerns until the next morning, when he knocked and called from outside the locked room. After contacting police, he forced the door open and found the bodies.
Police investigation
A police investigation "very quickly recognised" that Mr Hughes had played no part in either death. Mr Cox said: "The evidence of the police is that it is more likely than not that Hudson has died because he has been asphyxiated by Tasmin."
He ruled that Ms Paterson's death was suicide, and Hudson's death was unlawful killing. Aaron Paterson, Hudson's father and Ms Paterson's former husband, said: "She loved him with all of her heart and Hudson was her everything. She never hurt him, never raised a hand to him."
