Partner of convicted sex offender found dead after overdose, inquest hears

The partner of a sex offender convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting women died of an overdose of sleeping pills and alcohol and was found dead in his home, an inquest heard.

Kelly Faiers, 61, was found at Richard Scatchard’s home in Minehead, Somerset, in October 2023.

Scatchard, 70, a lifer who was sentenced to life imprisonment, told police who came to his home that he had not had sex with Ms Faiers.

His death was initially treated as non-suspicious.

However, when other evidence emerged regarding his previous convictions, this was ruled a murder.

When police returned to Scatchard’s home the next day to speak with him, he had disappeared. He was later found dead in a caravan in Watchet, Somerset, in April 2024.

Somerset Coroner’s Court heard Scatchard had a long history of sexual offenses dating back to the 1980s, including attempted rape, sexual assault and the administration of drugs such as chloroform to obtain sex.

He was sentenced to life in prison in 2000 and told to serve at least five years and four months in prison before being considered for parole.

Somerset senior coroner Samantha Marsh said Scatchard drugged and sexually assaulted four women.

“His modus operandi was to meet a woman, usually through a dating site or equivalent, and given that we were talking about crimes in the late 1980s or 1990s, this was a lonely hearts ad,” he said.

“He was giving unknown drugs to women, causing them to lose consciousness, and while the woman was unconscious, he was performing sexual acts without her knowledge and consent.

“He would photograph or videotape himself performing these acts.”

He was released from prison in April 2013 before moving to Minehead in 2020.

The inquest heard Ms Faiers, who was single and worked at Bristol Airport, met Scatchard on a dating site and they were in a relationship for about six months before her death.

His family said he had been a “high-functioning” alcoholic for many years.

Colleagues said Scatchard told them he had a “fantasy” of having sex with her while she was unconscious due to drugs and alcohol.

They also described Scatchard as “controlling” and said he would criticize her appearance.

Ms Faiers’ work supervisor, Claire Blick, said Scatchard told her he wanted to have sex with her while she was unconscious.

“I told Kelly she needed to get out of this relationship. Kelly responded by saying she would never take anything without knowing what was going to happen,” he said.

“On one occasion, Kelly said Scatchard tried to put his hand up to her during a conversation, and Kelly told her it would never happen again.

“About a week later, Kelly came to work with a black eye and told me she fell and hit her head on the table. She was wearing sunglasses at work to cover the wound.”

Her colleague Daniel Cepek said Ms Faiers rang “alarm bells” when she told him about the text messages Scatchard had sent.

“Kelly told me that Scatchard asked what flowers she wanted to have at the funeral, that she was his sex slave and that they belonged to her,” he said.

“When he told me this, I said it was very strange.

“Another time, alarm bells continued to ring when Kelly told me that Scatchard had asked her to take some pills so he could have sex while she was unconscious.

“After all the things Kelly would reveal to the team, the team and I would tell Kelly she needed to get rid of him.”

Another colleague, Jason Hemmings, said: “Kelly told me she had a fantasy that Scatchard had taken enough drugs and alcohol to knock her unconscious and had sex with her.

“I immediately told him that this wasn’t normal and that he needed to leave. He laughed it off and it was never spoken of again.”

Pathologist Dr. Amanda Jeffery carried out a post-mortem examination and found that Miss Faiers, of Weston-super-Mare, died from the combined effects of alcohol and sleeping pills.

Dr Jeffery said the mother-of-four was just under three times the drink-driving limit and the concentration of sleeping pills would have favored the taking of “a large number of pills”.

“It is not possible to confirm the exact number of tablets taken from toxicology results,” he said.

“The effects of alcohol and pills may provide an explanation for the death.

“It is worth noting that it is not possible to determine from pathology or toxicology whether Kelly took the tablets willingly or knowingly. This cannot exclude the possibility of an increase.”

Dr Jeffery said empty blister packs containing sleeping pills and Viagra were found at Scatchard’s home.

He added: “I was provided with a schedule of messages shared by Richard Scatchard and Kelly in the days before his death.

“These were highly sexualized on Richard Scatchard’s part and condescending on Kelly’s part.

“It was clear that Richard Scatchard was planning or anticipating sexual activity over the weekend.

“He made suggestive comments about her, including bondage, rough sex, anal penetration of objects, as well as comments that she should do as she is told.

“He does not seem interested in these messages and does not appear to be trying to brush them off. His messages indicate that he will not engage in any further activity with her.”

“He states that his messages contain obscene photos of the woman. He tells her that he wants to throw her on the ground and have sex, including anal sex, and makes comments that she is lying there naked, unconscious.

“He says he doesn’t like it very much and hates losing control. He says they agreed on six tablets and he says that’s what she told him.”

The investigation in Taunton continues.