Inquest fails to find how Love Island beauty died
FORMER Love Island star Sophie Gradon’s death remained a mystery yesterday after a coroner ordered more time for investigators to establish the cause.
The 32-year-old former beauty queen was found dead at her parents’ £1million home in Ponteland, Northumberland, last week.
She is believed to have been found in her bedroom by boyfriend Aaron Armstrong.
Northumbria Police said they do not believe there to be any suspicious circumstances.
But at an inquest opened yesterday in North Shields, which lasted less than a minute, South Northumberland’s assistant coroner Trevor Carroll revealed the cause of death had not yet been established.
Struggles
He said: “Following initial inquiries, it is appropriate to open an inquest on her death and to also adjourn the inquest at this stage pending further inquiries in order to determine the cause of death.”
Gradon, who was named Miss Great Britain in 2009 and had been crowned Miss Newcastle the previous year, died on June 20.
Her parents Colin and Deborah Gradon said in a statement on Wednesday: “It has been one week since we lost our precious daughter and we as a family are still coming to terms with our sudden loss. Our hearts are broken.”
Sophie, who boasted she “sold her soul to reality TV”, had battled depression since appearing in the 2016 series of Love Island. She won the hearts of fans on the second season of Love Island when she entered the programme and found love. Sophie had attended the £4,400-a-term Dame Allan’s School in Newcastle upon Tyne, and recounted her struggles with anxiety and depression to her 600,000 social media followers.