A COSMETIC doctor drowned in the bath after drinking wine and taking drugs when she found out her boyfriend had a one-night stand, an inquest heard.
Dr Rielle Longhurst, 30, had fought with the “love of her life” Charlie Procter on the night of her death.
4
4
4
Inner West London Coroners’ Court heard Charlie visited her Notting Hill flat on August 21 last year, as reported by the MailOnline.
He went to see Rielle after she discovered he had been unfaithful to her on a work trip in France.
The heartbroken aesthetics doctor “made remarks about wanting to commit suicide”, the inquest heard.
But Charlie did not believe she was being serious and left at around 10pm to stay with his parents.
When he tried to call her the next morning she didn’t answer and she hadn’t been active on social media, which was unusual.
The inquest heard Charlie went to the flat but he was locked out.
He looked through the bathroom window and saw his girlfriend submerged and unresponsive in the bath, the inquest heard.
Charlie climbed in through the window and took her out of the water to perform CPR.
Emergency services were called at 12.03pm but paramedics tragically pronounced Rielle dead at the scene.
Det Con Jorge Sobral, of the Metropolitan Police told the inquest two glasses of wine were found in the flat.
Empty packets of medication were found in a plant pot and a half empty container was discovered in the bathroom.
Rielle had also left letters to her parents, mum Phyllis and dad Graham, as well as her sister Georga.
Her phone had been placed by the bath taps.
Det Con Sobral said the notes were labelled “Rielle: Letter of intent”.
“The notes addressed how much she loved Georga and Mr and Mrs Longhurst and some of the pain she’d been going through and what her thought process was,” he told the inquest.
“She said she loved them, but she can’t carry on.”
Dr Susan Paterson, head of toxicology at Imperial College London, found Rielle had alcohol in her blood that was over the legal driving limit.
Her cause of death was given as drowning, with a contributing factor the harmful effects of alcohol.
The inquest heard Rielle had began working as an aesthetics doctor in London in June 2023.
She met Charlie in 2021 and her father described him as “the love of her life, everything she’d ever wanted”.
“Charlie strayed and it really upset her”, he said.
Rielle’s friend Tory Kaye told the inquest she last saw her on August 21 at 3.20pm.
She explained Rielle had been texting the woman her boyfriend had a one-night stand with.
The heartbroken 30-year-old was asking for more information about the fling.
A text from Rielle on Charlie’s phone from August 20 said “she wanted to die because he had cheated”.
On August 21 she sent him a message parting ways and wishing him luck for the future.
In a statement, her dad Graham Longhurst said Rielle was extremely empathetic.
“She was an all or nothing sort of girl,” he added.
Assistant coroner Jean Harkin Harkin recorded a conclusion of misadventure and said: “We have heard that Rielle was very talented, very clever and loved by all.
“We have heard that the break-up of a relationship with her partner troubled her and she made comments about not wanting to live, but I do not find that unusual in the break-up of a relationship.
“In addition we know that the toxicology evidence showed that Rielle had taken an opioid at a high level, but that doesn’t refer to a fatal level.
“She had also taken alcohol and the combination would have depressant effects on the nervous system.
“It would make her very sleepy and very drowsy.
“She was in the bath and had a candle lit and her mobile phone was in a position that she could see.
“The family told me that despite notes that were left she wouldn’t have wanted to die.
“Rielle died as a result of drowning and that lends weight to being sleepy and immersing herself in water.
“It’s likely on the evidence that Rielle was expecting Charlie to arrive and maybe wanted to hurt him as he’d hurt her.
“We have a note of intent, but what we do not know is whether it was written at that time so we can’t be certain that the note was written just before she died.
“It’s likely on the balance of evidence that Charlie would have found her notes and realised his impact.
“Charlie’s evidence was he didn’t believe she would have taken her life.
“The family and Charlie both knew her well and they do not believe that she intended to die.”
The inquest heard Rielle was one of five siblings and a talented grammar school pupil.
She studied medicine at the University of Liverpool and qualified in 2017.
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.
4