Victoria Couchman

Victoria Couchman was found dead in Redgeland Wood, St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex in October 2008.

Her father was charged with her murder but he killed himself in HMP Lewes two days before the trial. He slashed his arm with a razor blade in his cell on 2 January 2010. However, he had denied murdering her and it was said that the evidence against him had been circumstantial.

It was thought that Victoria Couchman had been killed around five months before her body was found, however, none of her family or friends had reported her missing.

She had shared a house in Beecham Place, St Leonards with her father.

When she was found her body was decomposed and in pieces. Her skull was first found by children in October 2008 after which more body parts were found nearby, including her femur and pelvis.

However, due to the state of her remains, it was not possible to determine her cause of death.

At her inquest, the Coroner returned a verdict of unlawful killing.

The police said that there was good reason to charge her father and put him on trial. It was heard that text messages had been sent from Victoria Couchman's phone following her disappearance to her mother stating that she had set up home with a new boyfriend. However, an expert in text messages said that it was more likely that the text messages were sent by her father. It was shown that the phone that had been used to send the text messages had been bought from a shop by a man matching his description and that the man had also bought a walking stick, which it was noted he had cause to use.

It was said that reasons to conclude that Victoria Couchman had been murdered was that her body had been concealed in the woods and that she had not taken any money or possessions with her when she had disappeared. It was also noted that she had not contacted friends or family or even her own daughter after she vanished.

It was also noted that her father had lied in his statements and that there had been other inconsistencies.

It was heard that her father had told the police that he had not reported his daughter missing because she had disappeared before and had been on her final warning with the social services and he didn't want to lose his grandchild. However, the social services denied that Victoria Couchman had been given a final warning.

The police further noted that her father had 11 previous convictions including theft and firearms offences, and that there was the possibility that he had been involved in drug dealing. He was found to have had a dealer's list written down in some diaries as well as foil and electronic scales consistent with having been involved in drug dealing.

It was also noted that Victoria Couchman had been seen outside her house in Beecham Place which she shared with her father around the time she vanished and to have said, 'I have had enough. He's too controlling'. Then, later on in the day, a neighbour who Victoria Couchman had started a relationship with went to see her and said that her father told him that she had gone out.

It was heard that it would have been the prosecution’s case that Victoria Couchman's father then disposed of her body in the wood and sold his car twelve days later.

He was also said to have told the police that he had lost his phone shortly after she vanished, which the police said would have had important evidential value.