Young mum found hanged hours after row with partner
AYOUNG mum was found dead by her boyfriend hours after they argued at a wedding party, an inquest heard.
Emily Evans was found hanged at her home just before 9.30pm on July 27 following a reception held at a pub in Wolverhampton.
Black Country Coroner Zafar Siddique said evidence suggested she did not intend to take her own life and recorded her death as misadventure.
The 27-year-old and her partner Steven Davis had been arguing over “petty allegations” which “quickly spiralled and became vitriolic”, Black Country Coroner’s Court heard.
The couple left the party separately, with Emily opting to drive her boyfriend’s car to their home in Stepping Stones Close, Walsall.
After the pair returned home, Mr Davis was upstairs and Emily had stepped back outside their home to grab cigarettes from the car, the inquest was told.
But she was unable to get back in the house after the door automatically locked behind her. She then used a garden ornament to smash the window of Steven’s car.
Mr Davis told the inquest he left the house to drive the damaged car to a nearby convenience store.
While away from their home, he admitted sending “unpleasant” messages to his girlfriend and taunting her about a Facebook post which claimed she had been unfaithful.
When he returned home later that evening, he discovered Emily’s body.
Despite the best efforts of paramedics, she could not be saved.
Mr Davis, a groundworker, said of his girlfriend: “She was always happy, we were happy most of the time. We started seeing each other in May 2018.
“It was good, we did have arguments but most of the time it was good.
“We basically argued about previous relationships. We planned to get engaged, we started organising stuff and looking at venues.”
Discussing the argument on the day Emily died, Mr Davis said the texts he sent her were “not very pleasant”.
Emily’s mum, Joanne Beech, described her daughter as “caring, fun-loving and family-orientated” at the inquest, which was attended by more than 40 family and friends.
It heard Emily was an avid Manchester United supporter who doted on her son and her partner’s two children. She worked as an administrator.
Talking about a previous holiday to Turkey that Emily had taken with Mr Davis, Mrs Beech told the Oldbury inquest: “Seven nights before they came home they had a bad row that ended in violence. He accused her of being suspicious. He became aggressive.
“Without alcohol, they were quite happy. There was no evidence that she would consider life without Steve.”
Speaking about the day of her daughter’s death, Mrs Beech claimed: “He had been horrible to her all day. Emily slipped on her way out of the toilet and hurt her knee. She told Steven: ‘I think I have broken my knee’, to which he replied: ‘Pity it wasn’t your neck’.”
A postmortem examination report revealed Emily had a fractured voicebox and concluded “hanging by ligature” caused her death.
Mrs Beech told the court: “I was completely shocked. Emily was very anti-suicide, especially for people with children.
“I think something went dramatically wrong because she had her son who she loved immensely and she loved Steven.
“I’ve read emails where she was planning for the future, she was looking at wedding dresses and baby names.”
Zafar Siddique, senior coroner for the Black Country, said: “Emily had no history of mental illness, was not on any anti-depressant medication and no notes were left at the scene. This came as a bolt out of the blue for everyone. She was future-orientated based on everything I’ve heard.”
Mr Siddique added: “I am recording this as a death by misadventure. I am satisfied she did tie the ligature but didn’t intend the outcome. On evidence, she did not intend to take her own life. She may have expected her partner to find her. It is a deeply tragic loss of a young mum.”
This came as a bolt out of the blue for everyone. She was futureorientated based on everything I’ve heard
Coroner Zafar Siddique