A United Kingdom (UK) coroner’s inquest into the death of 47-year-old Rebekah Arter, who was found dead in her hotel room while on vacation in Barbados last June, may not be able to move forward unless this country submits a toxicology report on the deceased woman.
Recently during a hearing ahead of the September date set for the formal inquest, Coroner Professor Andrew Harris, said he wrote to the Barbadian authorities on February 26, requesting information pertaining to the toxicology report. He pointed out that the UK pathologist who also did an autopsy on Arter was “baffled” at not receiving such a report from Barbados along with its autopsy findings.
“We received from Barbados a report which indicated Rebekah’s body was found in a room in a hotel, lying on the floor. Her husband was present and interviewed by police relative to the death of his wife. There were no marks of violence. The scene was processed by the forensic science team . . . . A medical doctor visited the scene and pronounced death,” he said.
“An autopsy was conducted. We have been sent the details of this and this autopsy indicated, as you’re aware . . . and it was given as aspiration pneumonitis. My understanding of aspiration pneumonitis is . . . a situation in which fluids or substances pass from the gullet or stomach into the lungs, causing an inflammation of the lungs, which causes death.”
“What was notable about the report is it didn’t give an indication as to what the cause of the aspiration was. We, therefore, asked for a British pathologist who is a forensic pathologist, Dr Olaf Biedrzycki, who’s a very experienced pathologist indeed . . . he gave the medical cause of death as unascertained – pending correlation with the first post-mortem report – toxicology tests. He did find Benzoylecgonine traces in the liver, and that’s a metabolite of cocaine.”
He said the pathologist “came to a conclusion that it indicated the occasional use of cocaine or crack cocaine and active use of cannabis, but wasn’t in a position to indicate whether this had any relation to her death or whether she was intoxicated at the time”.
“It is clear from Dr Biedrzycki and his communication with the court that he is baffled why it is a pathologist in Barbados would not automatically have ordered toxicology. Professionally, it seems obvious that it’s necessary.”
He revealed that a member of Arter’s family had provided “circumstantial evidence” that they were told by somebody that toxicology had been taken.
As a result, the coroner said he communicated with the Taking Of Evidence Unit of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for evidence to be taken from a witness in Barbados.
“To get a witness statement from the pathologist in Barbados either as to what is the toxicology report which has not been disclosed or a reason that it was not taken and some indication of what he views the cause of the aspiration to be . . .,” the coroner said.
“I’m not entitled to do that in law without going through the legal processes. We have paid a fee, I have made a formal application and the matter now rests with the authorities in Barbados.”
However, he told the family who was present, including Arter’s son, Elliott: “I’ve explained this in some detail because I hope you appreciate this is a major obstacle to any further investigation unless we can establish the medical cause of death.
“If we do not receive evidence from Barbados that I have requested, I see very little prospect of any further investigation being useful and I would seek the family’s consent to read the inquest without opening our matters any further and that may be a painful matter, it may be something you should think about but I’m trying to explain my preliminary judgment. If we do receive a response that opens a number of possibilities and we’d have to determine those and what the implications were but I’m not in a position to make that judgment yet.”
Arter, was on vacation in Barbados with her husband Warren Arter, a former UK Met Police detective inspector, who was kicked out of the police service in 2016 in disgrace for gross misconduct involving drug abuse and orgies. He found her dead in their room at the Ocean 2 Hotel.
Last year, Assistant Commissioner of Police, David Griffith told this newspaper that police responded to the incident on June 28.
“No marks of violence were found and there was nothing to suggest anything untoward but we still processed the scene. A post mortem examination was conducted on her body on the 4th of July and death was attributed to aspiration pneumonitis – that’s basically choking on your vomit.”
However, he said no tests were conducted for cocaine use.
When Warren returned to the UK he was arrested on allegations of rape and assault claims made by another woman. He committed suicide in a British prison on July 10.
Recently, Harris noted that Arter’s death was reported on July 26, 2024, “on what’s called an into England, as [Rebekah] came into England, with a report that she was found dead in a hotel room in Barbados”.
“And the senior coroner here opened an inquest on the 5th of September, 2024, on the basis principally that there were submissions and concerns that the death might be an unlawful killing.”
“I took some time to consult with a range of prosecution bodies in this country, and established that on the present evidence, there is no prospect of a criminal prosecution.”
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