A CORONER is writing to Avon and Somerset Chief Constable Sarah Crew to express concern that police officers did not arrest a convicted serial sex offender when a woman was found dead in his Minehead flat.

Senior Somerset Coroner Samantha Marsh said she would question the structure and decision making of the police force which saw the on-scene officers told the incident was not suspicious.

Mrs Marsh spoke after concluding an inquest into the death of Kelly Faiers, aged 61, of Weston super Mare, who was in a relationship with Richard Scatchard.

She concluded Ms Faiers was ‘unlawfully killed’ because Scatchard made her take a sleeping tablets overdose so he could ‘have his way with her’ while she was unconscious.

Ms Faiers died in Scatchard’s Blenheim Road flat in the early hours of Sunday, October 15, 2023, and the next day Scatchard went on the run and was found dead six months later in a caravan near Watchet.

Scatchard was on licence after his release from a life prison sentence for offences including kidnap, rape or attempted rape, and a series of drugging women so he could sexually assault them while they were unconscious.

Two police constables and a sergeant who attended the flat told the inquest of their suspicions at the time and how they wanted to arrest Scatchard.

However, a duty CID sergeant told them not to make an arrest but instead to take a full statement from Scatchard.

Mrs Marsh said the three police officers who went to the scene all had concerns as Scatchard’s behaviour did not fit recognised patterns, profiles, or responses.

She said: “He did not seem overly concerned that she had taken a significant quantity of sleeping tablets, all of this was ringing alarm bells.

“They appeared to be good officers, they followed their gut, they looked at risk and information and formed a decision to arrest him.

“They were right, but they were told not to do so by a senior ranking officer.

“My understanding is PCs are the lowest rank and will naturally in accordance with training revert to superior officers in terms of experience and rank and that is what they did, and DS Moore told them not to arrest.”

Mrs Marsh said the officers had been ‘left wide open’ when giving evidence at the inquest and were not not necessarily supported.

They had been doing what they were told by an officer who outranked them and now their actions were being openly questioned.

Mr Marsh said: “I therefore have concerns about officers on the scene being told not to arrest, especially when we are talking about dangerous offenders.

“While I will not make prevention of future deaths (PFD) report, I will be writing to Chief Constable Sarah Crew to look at my concerns on these issues within her organisation.”