Dog attack, overdose and artery blockage ‘all options’ in barmaid’s mystery death

A ‘dog attack, drugs overdose or furring of the arteries’ could all have been the cause of a barmaid’s mystery death, an inquest has heard.

Grace Gardner, 21, was declared dead at the home of her boyfriend, Reece Wilkes, in Bewdley, Worcestershire, on April 23.

Police launched a murder probe and Mr Wilkes was placed under investigation.

However, an inquest has now heard that Ms Gardner suffered a severe facial trauma wound believed to have been caused by one of Mr Wilkes’s three dogs.

Forensic pathologist Dr Alexander Kolar said the barmaid had suffered a wound ‘of very great significance’ consistent with a dog attack but had no defensive injuries, indicating she was either unconscious or immobile.

He told the hearing: ‘She was alive when at least some, theoretically all, of her facial injuries were facilitated.’

The barmaid also had traces of several drugs in her system at the time of her death, Worcestershire Coroner’s Court was told.

A friend of Ms Gardner described her as ‘spiralling out of control’ in the weeks before she died while appearing to abuse drugs, the court heard.

Dr Kolar said traces of a synthetic opioid, an illegally-manufactured ‘designer Benzo’ drug and low levels of cocaine were found in her body after post-mortem tests.

Despite evidence suggesting Ms Gardner died as a result of a dog attack, Dr Kolar said a drug overdose or furring of the coronary arteries, which was ‘very, very significant’ for someone her age, could have also caused her death.

‘The facial injuries were sufficiently severe to explain death,’ he said.

‘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.’

As Mr Wilkes began his evidence, assistant coroner Deborah Lakin told him he had a right not to incriminate himself and that she could not force him to answer questions.

On the day of Ms Gardner’s death, Mr Wilkes, who is a pub doorman, said he woke up to find a ‘cut’ on her face and his family’s pet lurcher licking her.

‘I just noticed her laying next to me,’ he told the inquest.

‘I just seen her [the dog] licking round her forehead.’

He said she had been fine around the dogs and was not aware she had taken tablets or any other drugs, although he had seen her smoke cannabis.

The 27-year-old told the inquest he met Ms Gardner several weeks prior at a bar and she had stayed over at his house multiple times since.

After he woke up to find Ms Gardner injured, Mr Wilkes said he immediately screamed for help from his mum, Maria Wilkes, who called 999 and performed CPR.

Ms Wilkes told the court she saw tablets on the floor which she believed had been consumed by Ms Gardner and possibly by the dog.

She told the inquest: ‘[Ms Gardner] had got a laceration to the side of her face.

‘I thought, like, one of the dogs had done it.’

Three dogs – a lurcher, a whippet cross and a Staffordshire bull terrier – were put down after being recovered from the house, the inquest heard.

Emergency crews discovered Ms Gardner in the ‘cluttered and dirty’ bedroom after arriving at about 5.05pm.

They said they heard a dog ‘barking and making crying noises’ from behind a bedroom door.

Former West Mercia PC Edward Maher told the court: ‘I entered the premises, which I describe as being in a squalid state.

‘I spoke with Reece and Maria briefly. He appeared more upset out of the two.

‘It was generally along the lines of ‘I can’t believe what has happened’.’

Both Mr Wilkes and his mum were arrested over Ms Gardner’s death. but denied any wrongdoing.

He told police he loved his partner ‘to bits’ and had not caused her any injury.

The inquest into Ms Gardner’s death continues.

On Saturday, Metro revealed that a man had been left fighting for his life after he was attacked by an ‘XL Bully he was watching as he fed three of them’.

Armed police were called to Ripon Drive, West Bromwich, just before 5pm following reports of a dog attack.

Police said an injured man was taken to hospital by paramedics while the dog, which neighbours said weighed over 60kg, was Tasered by officers and died at the scene.

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