Inquest postponed after new evidence discovery

An inquest into the death of a vulnerable young woman in Hereford city centre has been postponed after her family discovered new evidence on her phone.

The body of 21-year-old Natasha Jade Ashby, known as Tasha, was found in August 2023 in a tent at Hereford county bus station.

At a pre-inquest hearing on Monday, senior coroner James Bennett said it was "completely unsatisfactory that the family have had to become de-facto detectives."

West Mercia Police previously missed threatening voice notes telling Ashby to go and kill herself by taking an overdose.

A post-mortem examination has revealed the cause of Ashby's death to be heroin toxicity.

Her family, and the coroner, have said that toxicology reports showed she was not a regular user of the drug.

The coroner postponed the inquest, which was due to be held next month, saying that the voice notes provided new information about the people Ashby may have been in contact with before her death.

He told the hearing that Ashby's phones and Sim cards could not be analysed properly in time for the inquest, and analysis of the data could take four months or more.

Ashby's parents said they were delighted that more evidence was being gathered.

"The longer it takes, the better, as long as it's done properly," said Tasha's father Tony Ashby.

The voice notes were discovered by her parents and sister after Ashby's phone was given back to them by West Mercia Police.

A man who is being referred to as Male A threatens the 21-year-old.

"He tells her to pay the money he says she owes him, and then he tells her that she might as well go and kill herself by taking an overdose," the family's solicitor Ciara Bartlam told a previous hearing.

Ashby had been in care since the age of nine, living with foster parents and then in supported housing.

She was legally an adult at the time of her death, but her parents and social workers described her as vulnerable, with the mental capacity of an eight-year-old child.

Her parents have previously told the BBC they were concerned that the police investigation into their daughter's death "wasn't as good as it should have been."

They were accompanied at the pre-inquest hearing by Tasha's foster carer.

"A coroner has to be full, fair and fearless in pursuit of the facts and my duty is to the deceased," said the senior coroner.

"I have to be brave, take a step back, and realise that we have a fundamental problem," he said.

"I'm very conscious that [postponing the inquest] is a big decision which has a big impact on those involved, but we have to be confident in the facts."

"A number of conclusions are possible including suicide, manslaughter, suicide in the context of pressure by a third party, and manslaughter by a third party administering an overdose."

The family's solicitor asked the coroner to also consider murder as a potential conclusion.

Herefordshire Council, West Mercia Police and Herefordshire Safeguarding Adults Board were all represented at the pre-inquest hearing.

The coroner is due to hold a further pre-inquest review into Ashby's death later this year.

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