'Suicide pact' teens had been arrested, inquest told

Two teenagers found dead at a nature reserve in a suspected suicide pact had been arrested days earlier on suspicion of possessing an indecent image of a child, an inquest has heard.

The bodies of Jack Williams, 18, and Katherine Powell, 17, who had a child together, were found at Bothenhampton reservoir, near Bridport, Dorset, on 25 January 2022.

Coroner Brendan Allen started their inquest at Bournemouth Town Hall.

He said Katherine had told a social worker their relationship was "consistent with her being a victim of controlling and coercive behaviour".

Williams was first arrested in November 2021. He was then re-arrested, with Katherine, on 19 January the following year.

The inquest was told that neither Katherine nor the couple's child were the subject of the alleged image.

The jury heard the two had met at Kenilworth School in Warwickshire in 2018 while Katherine was living between the homes of her separated parents.

In May 2020, during the first Covid lockdown, she moved in with Williams in his privately-rented accommodation three nights a week before they moved to West Bay, Dorset, in January 2021.

Allen said Katherine was pregnant at the time, leading to a referral to children's services.

The coroner said after Williams' first arrest he was released on bail with conditions that he could not be in contact with their child, which led to Katherine returning to her mother's home in Warwickshire.

He told the jury: "Before leaving Dorset, she spoke to a social worker and described details of her relationship with Jack which were consistent with her being a victim of controlling and coercive behaviour.

"Examples being that Jack put her down and her abilities, he had isolated her from family and friends and primed her on how to behave and what to say in front of professionals."

Allen said that police planned to arrest them on 19 January but Katherine was reported missing from home and was later found at Williams' address in West Bay.

He said after they were then both arrested and released on bail Katherine, who was taken back to her father's home in Warwickshire, was told she could not have unsupervised contact with her child.

Allen said before being released from police custody, Katherine and Williams, who had a history of suicidal thoughts, both denied they had thoughts of self-harm or suicide.

The coroner said Katherine then disappeared on January 22, when she took a taxi in the early hours from Kenilworth back to West Bay.

Allen said when her mother previously reported her missing on 19 January, she had told police "she may do something daft like a suicide pact".

A similar warning was also made to police by a social worker on 24 January.

Allen said the risk assessments carried out by Dorset Police and Warwickshire Police, as well as the social services departments of Dorset and Warwickshire councils, and Dorset Healthcare, would form part of the evidence during the inquest.

The inquest, expected to last four weeks, continues.

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