Plea to coroner over last people to see woman alive

The family of a young woman who died from a heroin overdose they do not believe she injected have said it is vital an inquest hears evidence from the last people to see her alive.

The body of Natasha Jade Ashby, known as Tasha, was found in August 2023 in a tent at Hereford county bus station where she was sleeping rough.

Ms Ashby was aged 21 and thought to have the mental capacity of a child. At a pre-inquest hearing at Hereford Town Hall on Monday, the family's solicitor Ciara Bartlam said Ms Ashby's death demanded "the most robust scrutiny this court can offer".

Senior coroner James Bennett said he was still considering who should give evidence at the full inquest set for March.

"The evidence of who injected Natasha and how she was injected is likely to be circumstantial, hearsay and rumour," Mr Bennett said.

"Many of the eye witnesses are not in stable accommodation and it could require the police to arrest and detain them.

"Such witnesses are very unlikely to admit homicide and likely to refuse to answer any questions."

The role of an inquest is to determine where, when and how a person dies if their death appears to be due to unknown, violent or unnatural causes.

An inquest does not assign blame or criminal liability, and in a coroner's court, a witness does not have to answer a question if the answer could possibly incriminate them or expose them to a criminal prosecution.

Ms Bartlam said there was evidence Ms Ashby could not inject herself and her family were concerned nobody had been interviewed under caution at the time of her death.

"My submission is that the investigation wasn't very good," she said.

"Tasha was important and what happened to her is important. It's relevant to the prevention of future deaths."

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

Her family said in a previous hearing that toxicology reports showed she was not a regular user of the drug.

Additionally, at a pre-inquest review in June, her family questioned whether "systemic failings" at Herefordshire Council had played a role in her death.

Ms 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 have said she was vulnerable due to having the mental capacity of a child.

During a previous hearing in June, the court heard how Ms Ashby's former care worker Anne-Marie Harris had been worried about her safety.

"I am seriously concerned that, without adult social care support, there will shortly be a loss of life by her own hands or others," she wrote in a safeguarding referral to Herefordshire Council.

During Monday's proceedings, the family's solicitor described how Ms Ashby was still choosing to have contact with the local authority's children's social care team and would drop into their office.

"The staff were concerned that Tasha's safety was at risk and she didn't have the capacity to make decisions," she told the hearing.

"This was escalated, and passed on to the council's housing and adult social care team on numerous occasions."

The court heard a member of the children's social care team said Ms Ashby had been previously assessed as having the capacity of an eight-year-old.

The social worker wrote about her fears that Ms Ashby's "wellbeing decreased and her substance abuse increased when she became homeless".

Ms Bartlam said the children's services team had been so concerned, they were trying to find a flat for Ms Ashby, even though she had officially left their care.

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 Ms Ashby's death in January.

Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.