A dancer who reached the semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent killed herself three days after being arrested on suspicion of child sex offending, a coroner has ruled.
Kerri-Anne Donaldson, 38, who performed on the ITV talent 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 was told that Donaldson was arrested on June 4 and questioned at a police station about the sexual offence, which she denied.
Donaldson was then reported missing and was found at a hotel in Woking on June 5 and was admitted to St Peter’s Hospital, Surrey, having taken an overdose. She had spent the previous night sleeping in a garage having drunk a bottle of Malibu.
The coroner’s court in Winchester was told that Donaldson was placed under a high-risk care plan at the hospital.
Kings and Queens reached the semi-final of the ITV show in 2014
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Serina Juru, a psychiatric liaison nurse who carried out a mental health assessment of Donaldson, told the four-day inquest that she assessed the dancer as being of “high and imminent risk of suicide” and rated her risk as ten out of ten that evening.
However, Donaldson was released from hospital the next day after another Mental Health Act assessment by three mental health professionals who deemed her suitable for release and into the care of a home-treatment team. She was found hanged at her home the following morning.
Jason Pegg, the coroner, recorded a verdict of suicide.
Martin Williams, a consultant psychiatrist who was one of the three professionals who carried out the final risk assessment, told the inquest: “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.
“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.
“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.”
Tributes to Donaldson included those from Strictly Come Dancing stars
Williams said Donaldson had refused to disclose the nature of the offence she was accused of but told him she no longer believed she was “definitely going to go to prison”.
The coroner said the final assessment had been hindered by not being presented with the full notes made by Juru and by three incorrect assumptions made by Williams. These included that Donaldson had raised the alarm herself after she had taken the overdose at the hotel and that she had been drunk when assessed by Juru.
The third assumption was that the offence alleged against Donaldson was “unlikely to be a sexual violence offence and a custodial sentence was unlikely” because of the terms of the bail conditions she had been given by police.
Pegg said it was concerning that Juru’s assessment was not read and considered before the final decision was made to release Donaldson from the hospital.
“The absence of the valuable and relevant information from nurse Juru’s assessment, then making and applying assumptions that were wrong, must have led to the Mental Health Act assessment being hindered,” Pegg said.
“What is clear from the Mental Health Act assessment is that Kerri was expressing a clear desire to get home on June 6.
“She had the ability to put on a front to get back to her home. Kerri intended throughout that once in her own home and alone she would have an opportunity without interruption to take her own life.”
Cara Donaldson, her sister, took her home from hospital but left her alone that night after Donaldson had reassured her she was OK.
Donaldson was found hanged the next morning when her sister returned to check on her.
The inquest was told that the song You Are So Beautiful, by Joe Cocker, was playing on repeat when Donaldson was found.
Her sister described Donaldson as having a “heart of gold, full of fun, brought happiness to life, career driven, adored her family, adored her friends, fantastic dance teacher, everyone loved her”. She added: “Her main passion was to choreograph dancing.”