Richard Scatchard: Woman left with flashbacks of corpse

A woman has been suffering "horrible flashbacks" after discovering the body of a wanted sex offender who had been hiding out in her caravan.

Nicky Kieley-Shier, 66, from Taunton, found the remains of Richard Scatchard upon entering her caravan in Watchet, Somerset, at 14:00 BST on Thursday.

The 70-year-old was wanted over the murder of Kelly Faiers at his home in Minehead on 15 October 2023.

"I just can't stop getting flashbacks of his head. It was horrible."

Police had been searching for Scatchard, who had not definitely been seen since 16 October 2023, despite about 100 unconfirmed sightings.

He was wanted for recall to prison and in connection with the murder investigation of Ms Faiers, 61, from Weston-super-Mare.

Ms Faiers had met Scatchard on a dating app, and on 14 October they went out together for the evening.

She was pronounced dead after Scatchard called paramedics to his home in Blenheim Road at 04:15 BST on 15 October, reporting Ms Faiers as critically ill.

Police went to the property and spoke to Scatchard, but when they returned the following day he had disappeared.

Ms Kieley-Shier had last been inside the caravan, located near Cleeve Hill, on 8 October last year before locking it up for the winter.

She discovered the remains after visiting the site to install solar panels on its roof, and stepped inside for a minute to have a break.

"I opened up the door and thought, 'oh God, there's a smell in here'," she said.

Ms Kieley-Shier said she then saw a body laying on the floor, with a distinctive "short grey hairstyle".

"I saw it and shut the door and thought, 'am I hallucinating here?'"

Ms Kieley-Shier immediately contacted Avon and Somerset police to report the body, who initially "didn't have a clue who it was".

"Somebody told me that a man had gone missing and it could be him, a sex offender, a murderer," she said.

"I Googled the missing man and his face came up. I thought, that's him."

A forensic post-mortem examination of Scatchard's body proved inconclusive in determining the cause of death, though police say it is "apparent Scatchard died some time ago."

"I'm going to be having some counselling, because I can't go to sleep without seeing that horrible head and shoulders all the time," Ms Kieley-Shier said.

The family of Ms Faiers say they feel "angry" at Mr Scatchard's death, and have been left with "a conclusion but no closure".

"That poor family," Ms Kieley-Shier said.

"They're not going to have any sort of justice are they, apart from he looked like he might have suffered."

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