Age: 16
Sex: female
Date: 9 Dec 1984
Place: Folly Pool, Dartington Hall School, River Dart, Devon
Cathy Pelly was found dead in Folly Pool on 7 July 1984.
It was noted that shortly beforehand she had been given a 90-minute martial arts lesson by the school caretaker, a 40-year-old kung fu fanatic.
Cathy Pelly had been a pupil at Dartington Hall School in Devon. She had also been an heiress.
She had been swimming naked in Folly Pool, in the River Dart, which ran through the school grounds.
Her inquest heard that she had a mark on her neck, and the Coroner at her inquest asked the jury to decide whether it was made by a swan or something else. They had the choice between misadventure and an open verdict.
The Coroner said:
The school caretaker, described as a kung fu fanatic, said that he had seen all the Bruce Lee films at least four times. He denied that he had got carried away during the demonstration with Cathy Pelly. He also denied that he had been interested in Cathy Pelly sexually, although he added:
After the inquest, the caretaker said:
A home Office pathologist said that Cathy Pelly drowned and that it was impossible to say whether a mark on her on her neck had been left there before, during or after death.
A martial artist expert, Britain's highest-graded martials arts exponent and a member of the management committee of the Martials Arts Commission, said that from seeing the caretaker's demonstration and hearing his evidence, that he believed that he had only a superficial knowledge of kung fu.
He noted that the caretakers fingernails were far to long for any competent martial artist.
A detective said that when he asked the caretaker:
That the caretaker replied:
However, the caretaker later said that when he left the scene that Cathy Pelly had been swimming and that he didn't kill her.
A painter from Totnes said that he regularly took girls to Folly Pool, and that about a week before she died he saw Cathy Pelly swimming naked for about 15 minutes. He said:
The painter said that on 7 July 1984 that he went to Folly Pool with a 17-year-old pupil that he had met in a bar at the school. He said:
He said that whilst he was there he saw the caretaker sitting on the bank and that he saw him start to do kung fu exercises.
The painter, who admitted having had 22 convictions, said that he and the 17-year-old girl left about 6pm, at which time he saw no sign of Cathy Pelly.
Cathy Pelly's 13-year-old brother, who was also a pupil at Dartington Hall, said that Cathy Pelly had told him that the caretaker was:
xxxqxxxx A bit weird.
Wehn the caretaker gave evidence at the inquest, after being warned that he didn't have to, he said that on the evening of 7 July 1984 that he went to the pool and saw the painter and the 17-year-old girl there.
He said:
He said that he later stripped to his shorts and began his kung fu exercises. He said that he then went for a swim, but noted that a male swan swam towards him hissing. He said:
He said that he was sunbathing when Cathy Pelly appeared. He said that she stripped and sat with her back to him and later asked for the lesson in kung fu. He said that she put on a white top and brown bikini bottom whilst he collected a blanket, and that he taught her how to fall and then asked her to throw him.
He said that he touched a pressure point in Cathy Pelly's neck, and that she told him she felt a tingling sensation.
He said that Cathy Pelly then started to throw him, noting:
He said that Cathy Pelly never tried to resist him.
He said that when the session ended, they made a tentative agreement to meet the next day for another lesson. He said that she then stripped off for another swim and that as he left on his motorcycle, he saw a man wearing fluorescent blue shorts sitting on a log nearby.
When he was asked about Cathy Pelly's broken watch, which was found about 6ft from her pile of clothes, the caretaker said that she had not been wearing one during the kung fu lesson.
Cathy Pelly's body was later found by two men, one of whom admitted he had taken LSD at a party the previous night at Dartmouth.
It was noted that there was an 'unfortunate' delay of more than five hours in reporting the discovery.
After hearing all the evidence, the jury returned an open verdict.
Cathy Pelly's death caused a scandal and the school was forced to close. It was noted that there had also been other incidents, including stories of under-age sex, drugs, theft, a nude headmaster, and another death, which had all frightened off wealthy parents, resulting there only being 100 pupils at the time of the closure, compared to 180 three years earlier.
It was stated that its troubles began when a the head master claimed that underage sex, drinking and drug taking was rife among pupils. However, he was forced to resign after it was revealed that he and his wife had posed naked for a porn magazine.
It was also heard that pupils had been prosecuted for thefts from local shops and that the police had warned other pupils over drug-taking.
Then, as well as Cathy Pelly's death, an ex-pupil died when his motorbike crashed through a plate-glass door at the school.
Following the incidents, the new headmaster said:
However, the trustees of Dartington Estate said that they were anxious to re-launch the school, which p[pioneered 'free-expression' education 60 years earlier. They said that in the meantime, in order to keep the classrooms open, pupils would cook their own meals and do the housework, whilst some teachers would lose their jobs. They added that pupils taking O and A levels that summer would be allowed to carry on, but that no new exam pupils would be taken on. The headmaster added:
However, the school closed in 1987, although the trust which owns the 1,200 acre estate continues to run charitable educational programmes including Schumacher College, Dartington Arts School, Research in Practice and the Dartington Music Summer School & Festival.
see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
see The Scotsman - Friday 24 August 1984
see Daily Mirror - Thursday 17 April 1986
see Wikipedia
