Wolverhampton woman found dead in Thai swimming pool may have fallen asleep drunk

Rachel Turner, aged 42, from Bushbury, was found face down in the pool by hotel staff at the resort on Koh Chang Island.

She had arrived in the country with her partner Stefan Brown five days earlier and was said to be having the time of her life. An inquest into her death heard they had been for a meal together the night before and shared two bottles of wine before returning to the hotel and going to bed at around 10pm.

The next morning, at around 6.30am, Mr Brown was awoken by the sound of the hotel manager banging on his door and was told Miss Turner was dead.

She was found to have 316 microgrammes of alcohol in her system, almost four times the drink-drive limit, as well as prescribed medication. She had also taken diazapam.

The inquest heard the couple's hotel room opened out right onto the pool and they only needed to go down two steps to get to it. Miss Turner, who was a keen swimmer, is thought to have gone out to the pool during the night.

Mr Brown told the inquest: "In Bangkok there was a pool on the roof and she was in and out of it all the time. She liked swimming and going in the pool, she was always saying, 'come on, get in the pool'."

Mr Brown's mother Susan, who had spoken to Miss Turner via Facetime just hours before she died, added: "She was enthralled that she could go out two steps of the room and there was a swimming pool. She said it was like her own swimming pool. She was very happy."

Mr Brown also told how they would lie back in the pool with their ears under the water and said he believed she may have fallen asleep.

The couple had been together for just over a year and were beginning a seven-week tour of Thailand. They chose the Asian nation as Miss Turner, a recruitment officer who lived in Cavalier Circus, had never travelled outside of Europe and Mr Brown had been a few times.

They arrived in the capital Bangkok on May 12 where they spent three nights before getting a boat to Koh Chang. They then hired a motorcycle and explored the island on what would be their final day together.

Mr Brown described the moment he was told his partner, who he said was his soulmate, was dead.

He said: "I'm a deep sleeper. The next thing I knew it was 6.30 in the morning and my door was banging, it was the owner of the hotel. He was Scandinavian and didn't speak the best English. He was saying 'your wife is death'. I thought he was saying she was by the pool and they couldn't wake her. I just thought she was asleep."

He was then asked what he saw when he got to the pool.

"She was just face down in the pool. I had to wait for the Thai police to get her out," he said.

The inquest heard how Miss Turner had previously struggled with alcoholism and had entered rehab in 2010. She had also been visited by a mental health specialists shortly before leaving for Thailand. The inquest was also told the cryptic message 'shame, shame, shame' was posted on her Facebook account shortly before she died.

However, Mr Brown said she was having a great time on holiday.

He said: "She had never been so happy. She was in awe of the place, she had never been anywhere so beautiful."

Black Country Senior Coroner Zafar Saddique said he believed the amount of alcohol in Miss Turner's system as well as tiredness from jetlag was likely to have played a part in her death.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, he said: "It is more likely than not she was lying in the pool floating and has fallen asleep, perhaps affected also by the alcohol and drugs she has taken."