Inquest into death of nine-year-old girl found dead in a lorry
A CORONER at the inquest of a nine-year-old girl strangled by her mother's lorry driver fiance today said she should have been "safely tucked up in her bed at home", not in a lorry cab.
Stacey Lawrence's body was found in the cab of a white Spar lorry parked in a lay-by in Warmington, near Oundle, on August 29 last year.
She had been on a delivery run with her mother's fiance Darren Walker, 40, whose body was found hanging from a tree in nearby woodland.
Recording a verdict of unlawful killing at her inquest at Kettering Magistrates' Court, Northamptonshire coroner Anne Pember apologised to Stacey's family for their loss.
Ms Pember said: "You entrusted her to the man you loved and who was your fiance.
"I make no criticism of you, you could not have contemplated that such a tragedy could befall her.
"Any parent should be aware that sleeping in a lorry cab is not an appropriate place for a nine-year-old girl who in my view should be safely tucked up in her bed at home."
Stacey was found in the cab of the lorry after concerns were raised when she and Walker did not return home after a delivery run.
Police called to the lorry, which was parked in a lay-by off the A605, found the schoolgirl lying in the bed of the cab with a piece of black strapping round her neck.
Today's inquest heard the youngster was underneath a duvet in the "unkempt" cab, with remains of food and her shoes also in the lorry.
In a statement read to the court Pc Robert Blott, who was called to the scene, said: "The cab area was quite dark and in an unkempt untidy condition.
"There was a figure lying on the bed covered in a dark-coloured duvet."
He said her legs were apart, her body was almost slightly twisted to the right and her head was lying on one side.
Some form of black material was round her neck and her face was bloated, the inquest heard.
Home Office pathologist Prof Guy Rutty, who examined the scene and later carried out a post mortem examination on Stacey, told the inquest he noticed her knickers were not in the right position when her body was found.
He said: "During the examination it became apparent to me that the deceased's underwear were incorrectly positioned. They were outside the left leg."
He said there could be two explanations for the situation, one being that Stacey had taken her own underwear down then put it back on wrong before falling asleep.
"The second is that it would suggest that she has been re-dressed after the incident and I have certainly seen that in other cases," he added.
Prof Rutty said the cause of death was ligature strangulation.
He said there were no marks to suggest Stacey had struggled or had been the victim of a violent assault.
But when asked by her older sister, Emma Hammond, who accompanied their mother, Roxanne Lawrence, to the inquest, if she was awake when she was strangled, he said he could not tell.
The pathologist said it was possible Stacey had been restrained by the duvet, which would have left no marks.
He said: "There could be a situation where she simply could not fight back and it becomes relevant in terms of the duvet because she is actually sandwiched in a duvet.
"It would be very easy to restrain a nine-year-old girl child in that position in a duvet."
The inquest heard that external swabs of Stacey's vagina found traces of semen matching Walker's DNA.
A statement from Stacey's mother said she had never had any reasons for concern over her fiance's relationship with her daughter.
In the statement, read out by the coroner, she said the pair had been on four or five trips in the lorry together.
She said: "I never saw any incident between he and Stacey that caused me any concern.
"If Stacey was in the shower and called for a towel, Darren would make sure one of us female members took it to her."
She said she always made sure Stacey was appropriately dressed and wore pyjamas.
She said Stacey had showed an interest in Walker's lorry driving and asked to go with him, first going in February 2009.
She said: "I had no concerns about this as she told me how much she enjoyed it.
"She told me it was nice to get away from the house as Emma had had a baby and she wanted to get away.
"She said she and Darren would chat a lot about being a family.
"She loved the picnics and the food treats she would have."
She said Walker would always sleep in the front passenger seat with his trousers on, while Stacey slept in the cab.
In the early hours of Friday, August 28, Ms Lawrence said she woke Stacey and helped get her ready for the trip.
The last thing she said to her was to have a nice time.
Ms Lawrence said she spoke to her daughter and Walker several times during Friday morning and last heard Stacey's voice in the background during a conversation with Walker just after 7pm that evening.
"I heard Stacey in the background talking about liking a programme called My Family," she said.
"Stacey sounded happy and gave me no cause for concern."
The inquest heard that she became concerned on Saturday when she did not hear from her fiance and daughter.
She contacted police and the AF Blakemore depot where Walker worked.
The lorry was then located using its GPS tracking system, and the police visited the scene and made the grim discovery.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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