Moment ‘coward’ sobs after leaving tragic girlfriend lifeless in mattress for 30 hours

A man left his girlfriend dead in a bed for 30 hours having found her unresponsive after he was posting on Facebook, an inquest heard, with the coroner calling it a “calculated decision”.

Ryan Sheridan, now 34, and Kimberley McAssey, 29, met up on the evening of February 19, 2021 at his flat where they consumed MDMA and had sex.

She then began tapping her fingers and grinding her teeth, which could have been due to a reaction to the class A drug, an inquest into her death was told.

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After Sheridan gave her water and left the room for 40 minutes, he returned to find her unresponsive, Rochdale Coroner’s Court heard.

The inquest heard he didn’t phone police as he didn’t want to be arrested while on drugs and because he was facing assault allegations in relation to an ex-girlfriend. His mother Emma Heydon, who owned the flat in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, where Kimberley died, finally called the police to report the death on the morning of February 21, 2021.

When interviewed by police, Sheridan told how the pair had been watching the TV show Benidorm and then went to the bedroom to have sex. He said that he then “chilled with her”, asked if she needed anything and then spent an hour on Facebook in the living room before realising anything was wrong.

“I’ve gone in the bedroom and lied next to her, wondering why she hasn’t come in,” Sheridan said. “I’ve gone in, lay there, next to her for about half an hour, 40 minutes, and I just thought I’d give her a kiss, I’ll make sure she’s alright, and put my hand on her… and nothing was right. I kissed her and she was cold, and… I just… I tried giving her CPR and pushed her chest, I was saying ‘no, no’.”

Coroner Joanne Kearsley said: “His failure to alert the authorities was a conscious and calculated decision on Mr Sheridan’s part. I am satisfied that in failing to take appropriate action Mr Sheridan had only one person on his mind, and that was himself. His self-serving cowardice demonstrates a blatant disregard for Kim.”

The inquest heard that mum-of-one Kimberly was born in Salford, and lived in Prestwich where she worked at Armstrongs chip shop.

On February 19, a phone recovered by police showed Ryan messaging her at 10.54pm, saying: “Hey you. You okay long time no see. How’s tricks? You up to much?” Kimberly then replied: “Who’s this” to which he tells her “it’s Ryan”.

Sheridan was seen crying when he spoke about what had happened. They then had a conversation over text chatting about work, how Kimberly had contracted Covid-19 and what they had both been up to. The inquest heard that this suggests that they had not been in contact for a while, and Kim agreed to go round to his flat that evening.

DC Nicola Jones told the inquest how she was one of the officers who responded to the call about Kim’s death, made by Heydon, on the morning of February 21, 2021. She said that the call came through describing the incident as having suspicious circumstances.

Upon arrival, police body-worn camera footage showed DC Jones talking to Sheridan, who could be seen sobbing on the sofa and mum Emma sat beside him, rubbing his back. DC Jones told the inquest: “Emma seemed very dissociated, she was rolling a cigarette and looking out the window.”

The police footage showed Ryan telling DC Jones that he and Kim had some drinks when she arrived on the Friday night. He then said they had MDMA where they split a crystal, then had some more drinks, started kissing and went to the bedroom where they had sex.

Sheridan went on to say he left the bedroom several times and after returning and lying beside her for 30 to 40 minutes realised she was cold to touch and had died.

DC Jones said that she thought this account was strange as bodies don’t normally go cold that quickly after death and the flat wasn’t cold to begin with. While speaking to Sheridan and Heydon, she said she didn’t notice any drug paraphernalia at the time. She stayed in the front room with them that afternoon as detectives were on their way to the scene. During a search of Sheridan’s flat on February 26 a bag of MDMA was found, worth around £20.

Following a police interview, Sheridan, who is currently in prison for a Class A drug supply offence, admitted to waiting more than 30 hours before alerting authorities. Regarding Heydon’s actions on Sunday, February 21, Ms Kearsley said she had only been interested in helping her son.

She said: “I found her to be a most unconvincing witness, who exemplified the similar selfish considerations as those of her son.” She said that her actions at his flat, in which she went out to buy sandwiches and milk so he could eat before police arrived, were “callous”.

Kimberly’s death was recorded as an open conclusion with the medical cause of death being recorded as unascertained due to the absence of necessary evidence

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