The body of a devoted mum, who had been suffering with her mental health because of childhood trauma, was found in the River Derwent by police divers, three weeks after she went missing
An “utterly devoted” mum who drowned in a swollen river was “failed time and again” according to her family as she battled suicidal thoughts due to childhood trauma.
Engaged Victoria Taylor, 34, known as ‘Vixx’ to family and friends, was described as a “survivor” who had turned to alcohol to cope with the “heaviness of her past”. Her family said the “kind” mum had been dealing with mental health issues including post natal depression, her inquest heard.
A coroner on Wednesday told how Victoria had waded into the River Derwent up to her waist weeks earlier and had to be “pulled out”. The qualified nurse had also earlier tried to take her own life with an overdose.
The coroner criticised mental health teams for not supporting Victoria after these attempts and said she would be making a prevention of future deaths report and writing to all the agencies involved with the mum.
A massive police hunt was launched after the troubled mum vanished from her home in Malton, North Yorkshire on the morning of September 30 last year. The respected manager of a care home’s dementia unit but had been off work because of her mental health issues and was spotted acting ‘strangely’ before she vanished.
The coroner said her behaviour had “spiralled” in the last year of her life and she’d become “increasingly erratic and out of control”. Before she went missing she paid a large taxi bill to go and buy alcohol and took a train to York.
On CCTV she was seen “running from an invisible pursuer and talking to people who were not there.” Her belongings, including her rucksack and soft drinks including her favourite Dr Pepper, were later found on the river bank.
Sonar, drones, search dogs and land searches were carried out during the huge hunt for the missing mum which saw many members of the community joining the search daily.
Police divers battled “dangerous undercurrents” during the search, described as a “significant risk” to them as they scoured the river with huge undergrowth obscuring the banks. The underwater divers eventually found her body three weeks later, floating in the river some distance from Malton on October 22.
The area coroner spoke of her serious concerns that mental health teams had refused ‘a role’ in Victoria treatment several times, in the months leading up to her death. Coroner Catherine Cundy, summarising the evidence, said in the last year of her life the mum was “plagued” by “destructive” and suicidal thoughts.
In May 2024 she was taken to her GP by a friend clearly in distress having spoken about going into the river and getting as far as leaving a note to her daughter.
She was assessed by the mental health crisis team who formed the view her problems were principally alcohol related and suggested she attend Alcoholics Anonymous.
In August she waded into the River Derwent up to her waist and had to be ‘pulled out’ but again secondary mental services said they had ‘no role’ in supporting her
Three weeks after this assessment she was seen again on August 20 by mental health clinicians after an overdose and again it was deemed there was ‘no role for secondary mental health services’.
Ms Cundy criticised the authorities for not getting her help for her childhood trauma. She said: “I can’t see it actually being addressed with her that mental health services could have supported her in dealing with the underlying trauma.
“What I can’t understand… that particularly in August last year the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) could offer her some support.
“I find it difficult to understand why this pattern of binge drinking, suicidal thoughts and impulsive acts of self harm did not trigger… secondary mental health involvement.”
Her fiancé Matthew Williams told the hearing they believed the mum had suffered from post-natal depression after giving birth to her daughter in September 2022. And her big sister Emma Worden told the “heaviness of her past” caused her to binge drink.
She informed the court her sister was a “very loving person” who was “proud of the work she did”. Her family said she was not an alcoholic, and the coroner agreed with them, saying the mum appeared to “binge drink to block out the negative and destructive thoughts that plagued her”.
Emma told the court how her sister “was able to bring joy to other people who were struggling in the work she was doing”. But she said she had turned to drink because of the “heaviness of her past”.
Her fiancé Matthew told the inquest they had just returned from a 10 day holiday to Majorca a few days before her death. He explained how “life with Vixx was great with exception of the alcohol, which had a devastating effect” on her brought on by the childhood trauma.
The coroner, giving a narrative verdict, said: “She had preoccupation of entering the river as potential method of suicide.” But the coroner said she could not conclude that she entered the water “having the intent to end her life” because of her “increasingly disturbed and erratic behaviour” and “high level of alcohol.”
Victoria was found to have prescribed antidepressants in her system and was one and a half times over the drink drive limit. The coroner said she would have been “quickly overwhelmed” by the river which was 6ft to 9ft higher because of heavy rainfall than when she waded in weeks earlier.
“Victoria Taylor died as a consequence of drowning after entering the River Derwent but her intention at the time of doing so remains unclear,” the coroner concluded.
During the day-long inquest, Ms Worden turned to representatives of Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) saying they were going “round in circles”. She said: “Nobody looked her in the eye and said we will help you, and she’s not here now because you failed her.”
In a statement issued after the inquest, Ms Taylor’s sister Emma, said: “Vixx was a devoted mother, a loving fiancée, and a fiercely loyal sister. She showed up for those she loved with warmth, humour and a deep sense of care.
“Her relationships were central to her identity, and she gave everything she had to protect and support the people around her.”
Ms Worden said: “She also lived with challenges, these were not hidden. She reached out for help. She made herself visible to services. And yet, time and again, she was failed and left without the support she needed.
“The failures in her care were not isolated incidents. They were part of a wider pattern of systemic neglect and under-resourcing in mental health services.
“Vixx deserved better. She deserved to be seen, heard and supported. Instead, she was left to carry burdens alone.”
The coroner said she will be writing to TEWV and a number of other agencies with her concerns over the support Ms Taylor was given.
She said she found it “difficult to understand” why community mental health services repeatedly declined to offer her support as her situation deteriorated during 2024.
Ms Cundy said she believed this was partly because she was treated as an alcoholic when she was not dependent on alcohol, instead being someone who binged on wine when her emotions relating to her traumatic past overwhelmed her.