Did stress of judge’s ruling kill a mother of four at court?
Family claim anxiety over case led to a heart attack
A MOTHER of four who collapsed and died at court was killed by stress over a legal ruling, her father said yesterday.
Hayley Gascoigne died in her sister’s arms after suffering a cardiac arrest in the concourse at Hull Crown Court.
She began convulsing as she returned from the toilets following a judgment in a family court hearing involving children. Police have launched an investigation amid concerns the 32-year- old may have ‘taken something’ in the lavatories shortly before the tragedy on Thursday.
But her father Terry last night claimed her collapse was brought on by extreme anxiety following the court hearing.
Speaking at his home in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, the 58-year-old said: ‘My daughter died in my other daughter’s arms. She died because of the stress.’ Miss Gascoigne was rushed to hospital but could not be saved, leaving her
‘Terrible and sudden shock’
mother Kathleen to break the devastating news to the children.
Yesterday the judge in the case, Jeremy Richardson QC, took the extraordinary decision to hold a special public court hearing to express his ‘deep sadness’.
He said the court was co-operating fully with a police investigation into Miss Gascoigne’s death and allowed it to be reported that she had been involved in a case regarding children in a family court.
He sat alongside Judge Jessica Pemberton, who made the original ruling in the hearing which Miss Gascoigne attended two days ago.
The tragedy unfolded as the mother sat in the court concourse with her parents and sister Charlotte Jones, 31, at 2.30pm – just over two hours after the ruling was handed down.
Returning from the public toilets, her family noticed her eyes rolling back in her head as she turned pale and then started convulsing. She then slumped and appeared to stop breathing.
There were harrowing scenes at the court building as family members and her legal team wept and her mother was heard screaming: ‘Hayley, oh my God. Please save her, please.’
Paramedics arrived and there were desperate attempts to revive Miss Gascoigne as the area was screened off. Emergency crews then put her on a trolley and she was taken via a lift out of the court building to one of three waiting ambulances.
She was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary but pronounced dead. Medical staff were told there was no history of drug-taking, but those around the young mother including her younger sister said ‘she must have taken something in the toilet’.
In a statement, Miss Gascoigne’s parents said: ‘She will be dearly missed by all. Her death came as a terrible and sudden shock.’ Friends left online tributes. One wrote: ‘ She was a lovely, warm, kind person and this is just so tragic.’ Another added: ‘A truly beautiful lady inside and out.’ The mother of four was a former comprehensive school pupil and studied at Grimsby College. She formerly lived in a semi-detached house with her partner in Scunthorpe.
Four police officers last night began a close examination of the court toilets. A Humberside Police spokesman said a post-mortem examination is due to be carried out.
Details of the family proceedings cannot be reported for legal reasons.