Britain’s Got Talent dancer arrested on ‘child sex offence’ before death, inquest hears

A. Britain’s Got Talent finalist was arrested on suspicion of “child sex offending” days before her death, an inquest has heard.

Kerri-Anne Donaldson, who reached the semi-final of the ITV show in 2014 as part of the dance group Kings and Queens, was found dead at her home in Farnborough, Hampshire, on June 7 2023.

An inquest held in Winchester was told that the 38-year-old was arrested on June 4 and questioned at a police station about the “sexual” offence, which she denied. After going missing and being found at a hotel in Woking, Surrey, she was taken to hospital having taken an overdose.

Following her discharge on June 6, Ms Donaldson was found hanged at her home on the following morning.

Ms Donaldson’s sister Cara headed to her house after she did not answer the phone the next morning. Cara found a note at the top of the stairs which said: “Call 999, do not come in. I am sorry.” The inquest heard that the song “You are so beautiful” was playing on repeat when Ms Donaldson was found. A folded up photograph of her dog was also found with the writing: “If only you knew how many times you had saved me.” 

Cara said she had asked her sister about the allegation and her sister had told her that she was not guilty and that it had “all been constructed”.

The psychiatrist who assessed the BGT star as suitable for release from hospital after her arrest told the inquest that she had “settled”, allowing her to be discharged.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Martin Williams, who was one of three mental health professionals who carried out an assessment of Ms Donaldson prior to her release from St Peter’s Hospital, Surrey, told the inquest that she had presented as suffering from an “acute adjustment reaction” to her arrest.

He said that she was assessed on June 6 to have changed her position from the previous evening, when a psychiatric liaison nurse had deemed her to be of “high and imminent risk of suicide” and rated her risk as level 10 out of 10.

Dr Williams said that his assessment had taken account of this, but added that it was a “dynamic process”.

He said: “I was able to form a snapshot of the risk she was posing at that point, she expressed clearly that she didn’t have plans to carry out acts that could lead to her death.”

He said: “It struck me how warm and personable Kerri-Anne was, it struck me she was open, she was receptive, she was showing emotions appropriate of what she was facing.”

Dr Williams added: “We considered the possibility she was masking a higher level of risk than she was saying, but all the indications were that she was settling and the risk was markedly reduced from the previous day.”

He said that Ms Donaldson was “open to speaking to professionals in whatever form that may take”, and she was referred to the home treatment team prior to her being allowed to be discharged from hospital.

Dr Williams said that Ms Donaldson had refused to disclose the nature of the offence she was accused of, but she had told him that she no longer believed she was “definitely going to go to prison”.

He said: “She had shifted from a position of quite stressed and downbeat about the police involvement to where she felt much more confident.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Sarah McConnell, of Hampshire Constabulary, said that the officer who carried out an enhanced risk assessment of Ms Donaldson while she was in hospital had acted “appropriately” by not revealing to medical staff the nature of the offence she had been arrested for.

She said that the form was used by officers to assess the mental health of suspects of certain offences including what she described for Ms Donaldson’s case as “child sex offending”.

Ms McConnell said that the assessment was not designed for use by response officers, such as those attending the hospital with Ms Donaldson, but they had probably used it as a “belt and braces” approach.

She said that Ms Donaldson had not wished to disclose the nature of the offence she had been arrested for to the medical staff.

Ms McConnell said: “With Ms Donaldson being present and able to speak on her own behalf … I would make no criticism of the officer as I think it’s an appropriate decision-call to make in the moment.”

On Tuesday, the inquest heard that the complainant who accused Ms Donaldson of a sexual offence told police that she had spoken of taking her own life if the allegation became known.

Detective Constable Benjamin Harris, of Hampshire Constabulary, who led the investigation into the accusation against Ms Donaldson, told the inquest that the complainant was interviewed on video about the allegation.

When asked by the coroner Jason Pegg, Det Con Harris confirmed that the complainant had said that Ms Donaldson had told them that she would take her own life “if someone finds out” about the allegation.

Det Con Harris said that he had considered the possibility that Ms Donaldson’s reported comments could be a “form of control” against the complainant.

He said: “In my experience in some offences it can often be said without wanting to carry it out.”

Det Con Harris said that after the interview he graded Ms Donaldson’s risk of self-harm as “standard” and said: “When I spoke to Kerri, which was after the interview, in the cell she presented to me at that time that she was fine, so normal.

“She had no indication that she wanted to take her own life, when that was spoken about with her she gave no indication that would happen.”

He added that she had told him she had seen a counsellor previously and added: “She knew how to get help and she was in no way considering harming herself.”

He said that “with the benefits of hindsight” he should have included a question about the complainant’s comments when making the risk assessment of Ms Donaldson.

The hearing continues.

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