'Coward' left girlfriend dead in bed for 30 hours after finding her unresponsive

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A "self-serving coward" left his girlfriend dead in bed for 30 hours after finding her unresponsive, an inquest heard.

The now 34-year-old Ryan Sheridan, and Kimberley McAssey, 29, met up on the evening of February 19, 2021 at his flat where they consumed MDMA and had sex. An inquest into her death was told that she then began tapping her fingers and grinding her teeth, which could have been due to a reaction to the class A drug, reports the Mirror.

After that, Sheridan gave her water and left the room for 40 minutes, but when he returned he found her unresponsive, Rochdale Coroners Court heard. The court heard he didn't phone police as he didn’t want to be arrested while on drugs and because he was facing assault allegations in relation to an ex-girlfriend.

On the morning of February 21, 2021, his mother Emma Heydon, who owned the flat in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, where Kimberley died, finally called the police to report the death. When interviewed by police, Sheridan told how the pair had been watching the TV show Benidorm and then went to the bedroom to have sex. He said that he then "chilled with her", asked if she needed anything and then spent an hour on Facebook in the living room before realising anything was wrong.

"I've gone in the bedroom and lied next to her, wondering why she hasn't come in," Sheridan said. "I've gone in, lay there, next to her for about half an hour, 40 minutes, and I just thought I'd give her a kiss, I'll make sure she's alright, and put my hand on her... and nothing was right. I kissed her and she was cold, and... I just... I tried giving her CPR and pushed her chest, I was saying 'no, no'."

Coroner Joanne Kearsley addressed Sheridan’s decision not to call the police immediately, she said: “His failure to alert the authorities was a conscious and calculated decision on Mr Sheridan’s part. I am satisfied that in failing to take appropriate action Mr Sheridan had only one person on his mind, and that was himself. His self-serving cowardice demonstrates a blatant disregard for Kim.”

The mum-of-one Kimberly was born in Salford, and lived in Prestwich where she worked at Armstrongs chip shop. And on February 19, a phone recovered by police showed Ryan messaging her at 22.54pm, saying 'Hey you. You okay long time no see. How’s tricks? You up to much?'. Kim then replied, “Who’s this” to which he tells her 'it’s Ryan'.

They then had a conversation over text chatting about work, how Kim had had Covid-19 and what they had both been up to. The court heard that this suggests that they had not been in contact for a while, and Kim agreed to go round to his flat that evening.

The court was told by DC Nicola Jones about she she was one of the officers who responded to the call about Kim’s death, made by Heydon, on the morning of February 21, 2021. She said that the call came through describing the incident as having suspicious circumstances.

She told how she thought it was strange that Sheridan hadn’t made the phone call to police and the call had been made so long after Kim had become unresponsive and died. Upon arrival, police body-worn camera footage showed DC Jones talking to Ryan, who could be seen sobbing on the sofa and Emma sat beside him, rubbing his back. DC Jones told the court: “Emma seemed very dissociated, she was rolling a cigarette and looking out the window.”

The police footage showed Ryan telling DC Jones that he and Kim had some drinks when she arrived on the Friday night. He then said they had MDMA where they split a crystal, then had some more drinks, started kissing and went to the bedroom where they had sex.

Sheridan went on to say he left the bedroom several times and after returning and lying beside her for 30 to 40 minutes realised she was cold to touch and had died.

DC Jones said that she thought this account was strange as bodies don’t normally go cold that quickly after death and the flat wasn’t cold to begin with. While speaking to Sheridan and Heydon, she said she didn’t notice any drug paraphernalia at the time. And she stayed in the front room with them that afternoon as detectives were on their way to the scene. During a search of Sheridan's flat on February 26 a bag of MDMA was found, worth around £20.

Following a police interview, Sheridan, who is currently in prison for a Class A drug supply offence, admitted to waiting more than 30 hours before alerting authorities. Regarding Heydon’s actions on Sunday, February 21, Ms Kearsley said she had only been interested in helping her son.

She said: “I found her to be a most unconvincing witness, who exemplified the similar selfish considerations as those of her son.” She said that her actions at his flat, in which she went out to buy sandwiches and milk so he could eat before police arrived, were “callous”.

Ms Kearsley said that she found that Kim was a naïve user of MDMA and only would take drugs occasionally when socialising. She concluded that the likely scenario is that Kim by the end of the sexual intercourse was virtually unresponsive as Kim was not communicating or acting in a coherent way.

Kim’s death was recorded as an open conclusion with the medical cause of death being recorded as unascertained due to the absence of necessary evidence. Her death was also recorded to have been on the morning of February 20, not February 21.

Addressing Kim’s family, Ms Kearsley said: “You’ve waited a long time for this inquest and no family should have to endure the grief and distress you will have felt over the last three and a quarter years. I offer my condolences to you and Kim’s child. I hope you can remember the daughter she was and the good things about Kim.”

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