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A Britain’s Got Talent contestant was arrested for ‘child sex offending’ three days before she was found dead in a suspected suicide, an inquest heard.
Kerri-Anne Donaldson, 38, was under investigation over allegations she committed a sex crime against a child when she was found hanged, it was heard.
Detective Chief Superintendent Sarah McConnell told Winchester Crown Court today that Ms Donaldson was accused of ‘child sex offending’. Further details have not been disclosed.
Police carried out a risk assessment as part of their investigation into Ms Donaldson because the offence she was accused of was associated with an ‘increased risk of self harm or suicide’, it was also heard.
Winchester Coroner’s Court, Hampshire, has been told she was arrested by police and taken into custody at Aldershot police station on June 4, 2023, before being released and going missing.
She was found hanged in her home in Farnborough three days later.
Ms Donaldson had reached the semi-final of the ITV show in 2014 as part of the dance troupe Kings and Queens. Ms Donaldson performed alongside Strictly Come Dancing professionals Neil and Katya Jones.
After going missing, Ms Donaldson was found at a Travelodge, having overdosed, and taken to hospital where her sister Cara Donaldson said that she was told Ms Donaldson may need to be sectioned.
On June 6, Ms Donaldson was discharged, and Cara took her sister back to her own house, and left later that evening after she told her she would not kill herself.
The next morning, Cara went to her sister’s house and found a note at the stop of the staircase which said ‘Call 999, don’t come in, I’m sorry’. Ms Donaldson was declared dead that day.
Explaining why police carried out an enhanced risk assessment for Ms Donaldson, DCS McConnell said: ‘There was a study that identified a list of characteristics of offenders as putting them at increased risk of self harm or suicide.’
On Donaldson’s situation, she said: ‘In this case, child sex offending.’
DCS McConnell was not involved in the original investigation into Ms McConnell, but came to court to explain the risk assessment which was carried out.
She noted that Ms Donaldson was in an unusual situation, as she had been arrested for the offence but not charged.
Coroner Jason Pegg previously told the court that ‘Kerri had told the complainant that she would commit suicide if someone had found out’.
The court was also previously heard from DC Ben Harris, a police officer who had spoken to the alleged victim, who said that the offences were ‘of a serious nature’ and the circumstance in which she had met the alleged victim and how that developed were ongoing.
DC Harris said that threats of suicide were used ‘as a form of control in certain circumstances’.
‘It can often be said without the action of wanting to carry it out,’ he told the court.
He added: ‘Due to the nature of the offences from a police standpoint, we had the duty to make the arrest and question [whether] to put on our protection measures potentially protecting anyone who may have been made vulnerable from what had been reported to us.’
The psychiatric liaison nurse who initially assessed Ms Donaldson as having a high risk of suicide, Serina Juru, has told the court that Ms Donaldson said she thought she would face a prison sentence and couldn’t face that.
Ms Donaldson told a nurse that she feared being sent to jail and her reputation ruined and that she ‘didn’t want to live that life’.
During a psychiatric assessment, the coroner said that Ms Donaldson told Ms Juru: ‘She felt that arrest would tarnish herself, her company, and her general reputation.’
Dr David Enright, who discharged Ms Donaldson from the mental health team at the hospital, said that she wasn’t experiencing ‘suicidal ideation and wanted to be alive’ when he carried out his assessment of her.
Ms Donaldson performed on the ITV talent show in 2014 as part of the super-group Kings and Queens.
Other members of the troupe included Kai Widdrington and Neil and Katya Jones, all three of whom later became professional dancers on Strictly.
Ms Donaldson’s sister said in a tribute in court: ‘Heart of gold, full of fun.
‘Brought happiness to life, especially mine.
‘Career driven, adored her family, adored her friends, fantastic dance teacher, known in the community, to everybody and everybody loved her.’
Paying tribute at the time of her death, Strictly professional Mr Jones said Ms Donaldson was ‘like a big sister’.
On X, formally Twitter, he wrote: ‘Kerri Anne Donaldson – remember that name and please never forget it because it belongs to a woman who loved to dance, create and perform, she had the cheekiest laugh and a heart of gold.’
The four day inquest continues.
For help and support, call Samaritans on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or visit samaritans.org
