A 22-year-old who was left heartbroken after her ex-boyfriend told her he had moved on after their break-up was found dead three hours after her worried father asked police to check on her.
Isabella Goddard was discovered by her ex-boyfriend submerged in a bath at her home in Kent on April 13 last year.
Her father Peter Goddard – who was in the Cayman Islands at the time – had called police at 2:43pm to ask them to check on his daughter because he feared she was suicidal.
Isabella had returned to the UK from her parents’ property in the Cayman Islands the day before her death, an inquest was told.
She had returned to her home in Canterbury to meet her former boyfriend Kieran Wilson, from whom she had recently separated.
Isabella Goddard (pictured above) was found dead hours after her father asked police to check on her
Mr Wilson found the property dripping with water and called an ambulance after he tried to resuscitate her.
Paramedics were unable to resuscitate her and she was pronounced dead at the scene, just before 6pm.
An inquest heard that the police arrived at the property to carry out the ‘welfare check’ shortly after – only to find it was too late.
Mr Goddard said if the police had told him that it could take up to four hours to carry out a welfare check, he would have taken alternative measures.
Isabella, who had a history of mental health problems including bipolar disorder, was left devastated after the break up with Mr Wilson and had tried to take her own life, the inquest was told.
Isabella (left) was said to have been heartbroken when Kieran Wilson (right) said he had moved on
Her mental state improved after she began an effective medication regime and regularly visited her psychiatrist and counsellor in the Cayman Islands.
Peter Goddard, Isabella’s father, said: ‘The difference was remarkable – she was back to herself again.’
Isabella returned to the UK six days before her scheduled flight, a move which her psychiatrist approved after seeing her mental state improve.
Mr Goddard said: ‘I think she had been looking forward to seeing Kieran just to show him how she had changed from the depressive personality she had been before, to being the girl she had been when they first met. She wanted to speak to him face-to-face, to gain some closure.’
St Edmunds Road in Canterbury where Isabella and her ex-boyfriend had lived together
But she was left distraught after her ex-boyfriend told her that he had moved on just hours after she had landed.
Mr Wilson told the inquest at Maidstone’s Archbishop’s Palace: ‘I knew she was upset. I didn’t think she was going to commit suicide.’
‘There had been other occasions when she was very upset, and I was there for her and was able to help support her. On this occasion, she was alone.
‘We continued to speak after and she was calmer when we ended the phone call.’
Mr Wilson then called Isabella’s parents who were 5,000 miles away in the Cayman Islands to tell them that she had been crying for 35 minutes and advised them to call her.
Isabella’s parents called their daughter and spoke to her for 17 minutes.
Mr Goddard said: ‘She was talking about letting Kieran have her support dog Tilly, who she was very close to.
‘My wife started worrying she was having suicidal ideations again. We tried to get her to focus on her plans.’
The next morning, her parents awoke to find Isabella had not responded to messages sent the previous night.
Mr Goddard called the police at 2.43pm and asked if a police officer could visit her home to check on her, explaining that he had not heard from her for 14 hours.
In a recording of the phone call played during the inquest, Mr Goddard said: ‘She’s bipolar and has literally just returned home and broken up with her boyfriend.
‘She’s unfortunately tried to commit suicide before, so we are very concerned. She has a history of depression and suicidal thoughts.’
At the end of the call, the handler appears to have said they would visit the property to carry out a ‘welfare check’ – but did not give a time frame.
Mr Goddard told the inquest that he was not told that it could take up to four hours for officers to carry out the welfare check because the urgency depended on the risk posed.
Isabella’s father said: ‘Had I known at 2.43pm police would take up to four hours to perform a welfare check, I would have got my sister-in-law who lives an hour away, or some of her friends who live two minutes away, to go check on her.
‘I didn’t think it was appropriate, for someone considered a suicide risk, to wait for up to four hours to check on her.’
In a 2009 report the World Health Organisation said all situations involving someone who is suicidal should be ‘approached as a psychiatric emergency and that officers should ‘act accordingly (never assume that suicidal ideas or gestures are harmless bids for attention or an attempt to manipulate others).’
MailOnline has contacted Kent Police regarding the measures put in place by the force to respond to those in a suicidal state.
Having not heard from police, and growing increasingly worried, Mr Goddard and Isabella’s brother tried desperately to reach Mr Wilson.
Mr Goddard said he rang the police helpline again at about 5pm. He added: ‘Again, I wasn’t given any timescale as to when they might get around to doing that. I was somewhat frustrated.’
Isabella’s ex-boyfriend visited the property upon finishing work after 5pm, and entered using a spare key.
Mr Wilson told the court he found the walls ‘dripping with water’, and Isabella’s dog’s fur covered in moisture.
He said he climbed the stairs, calling out for ‘Bella’, and discovered her submerged in the bath, with the water still running.
He pulled her out and called 999, before attempting to resuscitate her.
Paramedics arrived on the scene just before 6pm, but Isabella was pronounced dead shortly after.
At an inquest opening in July, the cause of her death was revealed to have been ‘submersion under water due to intoxication’.
Police arrived a short while later to carry out a welfare check, only to discover that they were too late as paramedics were on the scene.
Isabella’s family were allegedly not contacted by police, and were instead informed of their daughter’s death by Mr Wilson at about 8pm.
Mr Goddard said: ‘We were on a plane just 48 hours after Isabella had been on the same plane, to come back to the UK. We were never able to see Isabella again.’
The inquest continues.