PARAMEDICS have been blamed by police for their decision not to arrest a convicted serial sex offender when a woman was found dead in his Minehead flat.

Richard Scatchard, aged 70, was on licence after release from a life prison sentence for offences which included a series of drugging women so he could sexually assault them while they were unconscious.

Mother of four Kelly Faiers, aged 61, from Weston super Mare, was found lying on her back on the floor of Scatchard’s Blenheim Road flat with her underclothes pulled down below her hips in the early hours of October 15, 2023.

Two police constables and a sergeant attended the scene and wanted to arrest Scatchard but were told by a more senior officer not to do so.

An inquest this week concluded Scatchard unlawfully killed Ms Faiers by coercing her to take an excessive amount of sleeping tablets, which, combined with the effects of a large amount of alcohol, caused her death.

The day after the failure to arrest him, Scatchard went on the run and was found six months later dead and decomposing in a caravan near Watchet.

Somerset Senior Coroner Samantha Marsh said she was writing to Avon and Somerset Constabulary Chief Constable Sarah Crew to question the structure and decision-making of her force in light of the failure to arrest Scatchard.

Now, the police force has issued a statement defending the decision while at the same time apologising publicly for a second time to the family of Ms Faiers for the impact officers’ decisions had on them.

A spokesperson said the detective who ordered Scatchard not to be arrested did so after a paramedic suggested the quantity of sleeping tablets Ms Faiers had taken was unlikely be a direct cause of death.

They said the detective instead felt it more appropriate for a statement to be taken, and further inquires conducted, including a postmortem examination and toxicology reports.

The spokesperson said: “Every day, officers must demonstrate their professional judgement by making significant decisions under considerable pressure, often with only partial information and, as referenced by the coroner, without the benefit of hindsight.

“We have fully engaged with a multi-agency domestic homicide review in 2024, the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s (IOPC) investigation into complaints raised by Ms Faiers’ family, and this week’s coronial proceedings to ensure complete transparency around our actions.

“Those processes have led to us making changes over the past two-and-a-half years, including increasing the number of specially-trained officers to help manage sex offenders, and introducing more training around unconscious bias and spotting the signs of false compliance.

“The IOPC found in 2025 the service level we provided was unacceptable around the decision not to initially arrest Scatchard, which we have accepted and apologised for.

“The coroner also raised concerns around that decision after Ms Faiers’ inquest.

“The IOPC investigation found no evidence of misconduct by any officer or staff member or any organisational learning for Avon and Somerset Police.

“Three officers involved in investigating Ms Faiers’ death have undertaken a reflective practice review process, which is overseen by an officer of a more senior rank and is designed to be challenging and a learning experience when an improvement need has been identified.

“We welcome scrutiny of the actions we take and, importantly, any recommendations around how we can improve the way we protect and serve the public.”