Dog attack bar worker may have died from heart condition, inquest told
Grace Gardner, 21, had three separate potential causes of death, a forensic pathologist said at Worcestershire Coroner’s Court.
A bar worker may have died from a severe facial wound caused by a dog attack, from coronary artery disease which posed a risk of sudden death, or the effects of drugs, a forensic pathologist has told an inquest.
Dr Alexander Kolar told Worcestershire Coroner’s Court the factors were three potential independent causes of the death of 21-year-old Grace Gardner, who was pronounced dead at her partner’s home in Wassell Drive, Bewdley, on April 23 last year.
A two-day hearing was told a friend of Ms Gardner described her as “spiralling out of control” while appearing to be abusing drugs in the weeks before she died.
Post-mortem tests showed her body contained traces of a synthetic opioid, an illegally-manufactured “designer Benzo” drug and low levels of cocaine, Dr Kolar said by video-link in evidence to the court on Friday.
Assistant coroner Deborah Lakin heard three dogs – a lurcher, a whippet cross and a Staffordshire bull terrier – were put down after being recovered from the house.
Explaining Ms Gardner had suffered a wound “of very great significance” consistent with a dog attack but had no defensive injuries, suggesting she was either unconscious or immobile, Dr Kolar told the hearing: “She was alive when at least some, theoretically all, of her facial injuries were facilitated.”
The facial injuries were “entirely typical” of an encounter involving a dog or dogs, Dr Kolar said.
The pathologist said he had not encountered two of the drugs found in Ms Gardner’s system previously or since the death, and tests on her brain had shown evidence of recent axonal damage possibly caused by drug use or an overdose, or a lack of blood flow.
The inquest was told other post-mortem tests showed furring of the coronary arteries which was “very, very significant” for someone of Ms Gardner’s age.
Dr Kolar continued: “There was no evidence of dynamism (movement) on her part – for example there was no evidence of any defensive injuries whereby she tried to protect her face.
“The facial injuries were sufficiently severe to explain death. Furring of the coronary arteries was significant enough to put her at risk of sudden death at any point. The drugs together provide a potential independent cause of death.
“Each individually could be an explanation for death.
“We have three potential events that would be expected to interact with each other to make a bad situation worse. It was not possible to establish a precise contribution for each component.”
The stated cause of death was a “sudden death arising in the context of” facial injuries, coronary artery disease and drug usage, Dr Kolar said.
The first day of the inquest heard evidence from Ms Gardner’s partner, pub doorman Reece Wilkes, who told the court he woke up in bed to see a “cut” on her face as she was being licked by his family’s pet lurcher.
In separate evidence, Mr Wilkes’s mother, Maria Wilkes, said she had dialled 999 and performed CPR, having seen tablets on the floor which she told operators she believed had been consumed by Ms Gardner and possibly by a dog.
Veterinary surgeon David Martin also gave evidence to the inquest as an expert witness.
He told the court he could not determine whether the wound was caused by one bite or more than one bite, or which of the dogs had caused the wound to the right side of the victim’s face.
He added the severity of the injury would not be consistent with a dog attempting to rouse someone and was the result of “an intentional aggressive act”.
Before recording a narrative conclusion, Mrs Lakin said Ms Gardner had been a “loving daughter, loving sister and loving friend” and it had been obvious at the inquest that she was “clearly popular and very loved”.
The assistant coroner said the evidence showed it was simply not possible to determine which of the pets had caused the injuries but “at least one of the dogs” was involved.
Mrs Lakin said she was unable to make findings about whether the dogs’ behaviour was impacted by drugs, and it was not possible to determine a single component as the cause of Ms Gardner’s death.
