Richard Scatchard, 71, was the subject of a police manhunt after his partner, Kelly Faiers, 61, was found dead at his home in Minehead, Somerset
The mummified body of a sex offender was found hidden inside a caravan six months after he vanished following the death of his partner. Richard Scatchard, 71, became the subject of a police manhunt when his partner, 61-year-old Kelly Faiers, was found dead at his home in Minehead, Somerset, back in October 2023.
An inquest has now laid bare the final chapter of his life. Earlier this week, an inquest into Ms Faiers’ death heard how the mother-of-four, from Weston-super-Mare, was coerced by Scatchard into taking a fatal overdose of sleeping pills and alcohol. The coroner concluded that she had been unlawfully killed.
Scatchard, who was already on a life licence after convictions for drugging and sexually assaulting women between 1986 and 2000, immediately went on the run following her death.
The last confirmed sighting of him was in the Watchet area of Somerset, roughly ten miles from Minehead, just one day after Ms Faiers’ body was discovered, reports the Mirror.
Avon and Somerset Police launched a search operation but couldn’t find any evidence to suggest that Scatchard was alive after October 2023. The manhunt came to an end six months later when Scatchard’s body was found at a campsite in Watchet when a caravan was removed from winter storage.
The corpse was so badly decomposed that the inquest heard he had to be identified using fingerprints.
Despite being described as fit and well for his age with no known medical conditions, the fugitive had died inside the mobile home.
In a written statement, Detective Constable Mark Evison revealed that Scatchard was wearing a wristwatch when his body was recovered – and it was still set to British Summer Time, hinting at the rough time of his death.
He said: “This was immediately thought of as being significant by inferring that the time on the device had not been altered since at least October 29, 2023.
“While the police had been unable to locate Richard Scatchard, the UK has been following Greenwich Mean Time, but due to a recent change to British Summer Time on March 31, 2024, this would have corrected a clock back to the current time accuracy.
“Due to the mummified nature of his body, it’s highly likely that he died prior to March 31, 2024, ultimately inferring that the watch was last set prior to October 29 2023, and so therefore would have passed prior to this date because he never corrected the watch to GMT.”
Detective Sergeant Craig Thomson mentioned that Scatchard had no known connections to the campsite and it was unclear how he had travelled there. He said: “We do not know for certain what day he went into the caravan.”
He further noted that there was no evidence of any third-party involvement in his death or any intention to self-harm.
Pathologist Dr Deborah Cook conducted a post-mortem examination on Scatchard and described his body as “heavily decomposed”. She said there were no visible signs of injury, no penetrating injuries and no evidence of self-harm.
Dr Cook said: “Post-mortem examination confirmed near-total mummification of the body. The internal organs were severely affected by decomposition, but there was no obvious natural disease to account for his death.”
She revealed there was evidence of fractures to five of his ribs, which would have been sustained close to the time of death.
She said: “In an individual without pre-existing compromise to respiratory function, the probable effect of five rib fractures would be a degree of chest pain, a potential difficulty in taking deep breaths.
“But five rib fractures would not be anticipated to cause death. With the degree of decomposition present, it’s not possible to exclude a concussive head injury having caused or contributed to death.”
Toxicology samples indicated the presence of alcohol and a compound found in sleeping tablets, cough medicine and hay fever medication.
However, due to the level of decomposition, it was not possible to obtain accurate samples for assessment, the court heard.
Dr Cook added: “Given the advanced state of decomposition with likely interval between death and post-mortem of over five months, it’s not possible to confirm or refute a hypothesis that death was due to sleeping tablet toxicity or to a combination of sleeping tablets and alcohol.” She recorded the cause of death as “unascertained”.
The court learned Scatchard had kept his relationship with Ms Faiers hidden from his probation officers as he was required to disclose “any emerging intimate relationships”.
He had received two warnings for breaching his licence conditions and had been informed he risked being returned to prison.
Probation officer Curtis Martin said that Scatchard had been evaluated as a medium risk. He said: “He was assessed as being too argumentative and controlling with the professionals, and there were concerns that without these risk monitoring and controls being in place, he would be an increased risk towards the public.”
Samantha Marsh, Somerset’s senior coroner, delivered an open verdict on Scatchard’s death, saying that there was no definitive evidence to ascertain how or when he died.
She said: “I accept he would have known undoubtedly he was going back to prison, and he would likely have been there for some time, which is a fact I think he would have also have been aware of.
“In terms of findings, I find that there was no opportunity for the police to locate Richard alive earlier. He was someone who did not want to be found. I’ve got no evidence that he’s alive after October 16.
“On the evidence taken at its highest, I cannot determine how he came by his death. The date of death will be recorded in these circumstances as the date of discovery.”