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Fresh Whitear death inquest due Mother doubts Rachel heroin death
(1 day later)
A second inquest is due to open into the death of 21-year-old heroin addict Rachel Whitear, who was found dead in Devon in May 2000. A mother has asked a coroner if "foul play" could have led to her daughter's death, a fresh inquest has heard.
At the time her parents published photos of Rachel's dead body to warn others about the dangers of drugs. Rachel Whitear, 21, who used heroin, was found dead with a syringe in her hand at an Exmouth bedsit in May 2000.
But the family now believe there may be suspicious circumstances surrounding the student's death and have campaigned for this fresh inquest. Her mother, Pauline Holcroft, from Herefordshire, asked: "Could there have been another cause, even foul play?"
It will be held in Exeter and is expected to last four days. A pathologist said the scene of her death could have been staged and he could not rule out a "third party" being involved, the inquest heard.
Increasingly suspicious The first inquest in 2000 concluded with an open verdict but a new inquest with a different coroner was ordered by the High Court last year.
The photographs of heroin addict Rachel's body - slumped on the floor of her bedsit with a syringe in her hand - shocked the nation. At the High Court, Lord Justice Maurice Kay said the original coroner should not have released the body for burial before a post-mortem examination and further toxicology test had been done.
At the time, Devon and Cornwall Police assumed she had died from an overdose. Miss Whitear, a former student at Bath Spa University, was found dead in her flat in Exmouth on 12 May 2000.
The initial inquest into her death took less than an hour and no post-mortem was carried out. RACHEL WHITEAR CASE May 2000: Rachel Whitear is found dead in an Exmouth bed-sitDec 2000: Inquest is held but no conclusive findings2003: An investigation into the case by Wiltshire police criticises the original inquiry by Devon and Cornwall Constabulary for not carrying out reliable toxicology tests or a post-mortem examination 2004: Miss Whitear's body is exhumed for a post-mortem examinationOct 2006: High Court orders a new inquest saying original coroner had erredSept 2007: Second inquest begins
But, since then, her family have become increasingly suspicious about the circumstances surrounding her death. She had split up from her boyfriend Luke Fitzgerald shortly before her death.
They successfully campaigned for the case to be re-investigated - which included Rachel's body being exhumed for forensic tests. Her mother, Mrs Holcroft, told the inquest: "Rachel appears to be holding the syringe oddly as if someone could have slipped it into her hand.
Last year the High Court agreed that a second inquest should take place, so that new evidence can be heard. "Where did she get the heroin? Was it given to her by Luke?"
A report by pathologist Dr Nathaniel Cary read out at Monday's hearing said there was a possibility the scene had been staged, and a fresh syringe and needle had been placed in Miss Whitear's hands.
Yet it was also possible she collapsed after recapping the needle herself, he added.
Prof Cary said while third party involvement could not be excluded, there were possible explanations for the findings at the scene.
He said the cause of death should be recorded as opiate intoxication on the balance of probability, because of uncertainties.
'Drug heavyweight'
DNA expert Wilfrid Basley said examinations found there was nothing on the syringe needle and a spoon, and there was too little DNA on them to identify who may have handled them.
Professor Robert Forrest, an expert on the effect of opiates on the body, said Miss Whitear was a heroin user at the time of her death.
He said on the balance of probabilities, she died a quick death.
Her step-father, Mick Holcroft, asked whether the syringe in her hand was not the syringe that delivered heroin to her body.
Prof Forrest replied: "A fair conclusion, but a matter for the jury."
Rachel appears to be holding the syringe oddly as if someone could have slipped it into her hand Pauline Holcroft
The inquest also heard a statement from Polly Nash, a friend of Miss Whitear's.
She said her friend had wanted to be a "drug heavyweight" and had taken cannabis, speed and ecstasy since the age of 14.
Miss Whitear started taking heroin after meeting Mr Fitzgerald but he had not forced her to take it, she said.
She said she had been told he was abusive and violent towards her friend and they were bonded by heroin.
Shocking pictures of Miss Whitear's body slumped on the floor were used after her death by her parents to warn people about the dangers of using drugs.
Mrs Holcroft criticised the initial inquest which took less than an hour and where no post-mortem was carried out.
This latest inquest, being heard in Exeter, is expected to last four days.