Bride-to-be found dead after wedding was called off
A BRIDE-TO-BE was found dead after her fiancé called off their wedding – sending him one last text saying: “I love you.”
Heartbroken Tina Skinner, 43, was devastated at the split from fiancé Gareth Jones, 59, after fourand-a-half years.
An inquest heard she had been planning their wedding in September this year – but he called off the big day after a series of “trivial squabbles”.
The last time former soldier Mr Jones saw Tina was when he went to her home in November after telling her the wedding was off.
The hearing was told of the final text message conversation between Ms Skinner and Mr Jones the day before she was found dead. Ms Skinner wrote: “Help me Gar.”
Mr Jones replied: “Please stay strong, everything will be alright. I promise.”
The final text from Ms Skinner said: “I love you.”
Divorcee Ms Skinner was found dead just a day later at her home in Bridgend.
In a written statement read out to the coroner’s court, Mr Jones said the pair were due to marry on his 60th birthday in September 2017.
He said: “She became less outgoing to the point where sometimes she would not leave the house.
“During the early stages Tina was outgoing. Some- times she would talk to me.”
The inquest in Aberdare heard the pair began to argue over “trivial matters”.
Ms Skinner had a history of depression and had struggled to come to terms with the death of her mum in May 2012.
She was found dead by ex-husband Mark Skinner and was lying next to a handwritten note and a framed photograph of her mum.
Ms Skinner’s medical cause of death was bronchopneumonia and mixed drug toxicity.
Senior coroner Andrew Barkley recorded a narrative conclusion.
He said: “A note was found on the bed.
“It is very clear when one reads the contents of this note that Tina Skinner did not intend to be around for much longer.”