A DEVOTED 68-year-old Ross-on-Wye mother took her own life just hours after her adult daughter had died, an inquest has heard.

Herefordshire Coroner’s Court heard that West Mercia Police received a report from concerned neighbour in Orchid Close on April 2, 2024 stating that the lights had been left on and the front door was slightly ajar, at the home of Theresa Harvey and her 44-year-old daughter Laura, which was said to be ‘unusual’.

And when Police Community Support Officer Simon Hall arrived, he entered the premises and quickly established there was blood stains scattered throughout the house and a deceased woman upstairs.

Detective Sergent Pauline Price told the inquest: “I walked in a saw that the taps were still running and found three knives with blood stains on them. I also discovered other items, including empty medication blister packs along with evidence demonstrating that attempts had been made to create a ligature.

“Upstairs, a deceased woman, Laura Harvey was found, wearing only her underwear. She was lying on the floor in her mother’s bedroom, and it looked like she had been in a struggle.”

DS Price said that she didn’t find a written note from Laura, indicating that she had taken her own life.

She added: “The working hypotheses was that Laura had died due to third party involvement, potentially by her mother, as she couldn’t be accounted for at that moment in time.

“A full missing person appeal was then launched by the police to find Theresa.”

Theresa was eventually found in a brook, a tributary for the River Wye, adjacent to the lane that leads to Ross Rowing Club on the morning of April 4.

The inquest was told that Laura Harvey had last been seen in public on March 28 and during the early hours of the following day that Theresa Harvey had been spotted on doorbell CCTV walking away from her home in the direction to where she was subsequently found in the brook.

The inquest heard that Theresa had told a friend of 16 years, that if she passed away because of her own health issues, she’d become concerned over what would happen to her daughter.

The friend said: “I am fearful that Theresa may have done something to Laura before doing something to herself. She previously stated that if she knew she was going to die, she didn’t want to leave her in the care of social services.”

Pathologist Dr Alexander Kolar said that the postmortem in respect of Theresa was compatible with drowning and added that there was evidence of self-harming attempts having been made.

Another pathologist, Dr Brett Lockyer said that Laura probably died closer to March 28, than the day she had been found. However, no natural cause of death could be identified.

Dr Lockyer concluded: “Taking all the findings into consideration and the amount of decomposition, it is not possible to demonstrate a plausible cause of Laura’s demise and therefore the cause of death remains unascertained.”

Herefordshire Coroner James Bennett said: “It seems to me that it’s inevitable that Theresa’s death is a consequence of suicide and added: “It appears that once Theresa knew that Laura had died, she leaves the house alone during the early hours of March 29 before being discovered six days later.

“I’m aware that suicide should never be presumed, but on the balance of probability, I am comfortable in reaching this conclusion.

“The police confirm that there was no third-party involvement in Laura’s death, beyond the actions of her mother.

“I have considered all the potential causes of Laura’s death and ruled out poisoning, and in the absence of any penetrating wound, she didn’t commit suicide as this could have only been achieved by poisoning herself or from the effects of a penetrating wound.

“However, I cannot return a conclusion that Laura’s death was caused by her mother when I feel that this assumption is unsafe.

Coroner’s conclusion: Open death.

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