Sex abuse victim drove off a cliff after texting husband

Leyna Ann Tucker (pictured) was found in the sea near cliffs in Porthleven, Cornwall

A sexual abuse victim who bravely brought her abuser stepfather to justice was found dead at the bottom of cliffs, an inquest heard today.

Leyna Ann Tucker was molested by Andrew Fulcher when she was aged between 11 and 13.

She later found the courage to report him and after he was jailed for four years in 2015 she waived her right to anonymity to speak out to help others.

Mrs Tucker was found in the sea at the base of cliffs in Porthleven, Cornwall, in May last year.

An inquest heard the 47-year-old had gone missing after a night out with friends in Helston.

Her car was found wedged on top of a hedge at the car park on Loe Bar Road the following morning.

Tests showed she was nearly six times the legal drink-drive limit when she died.

She sent text messages in which she said she was going to take her life by driving her car off the cliff, but a coroner said it was unclear whether she intended to kill herself.

The coroner concluded that the amount of alcohol in her system would have had a serious effect on her judgment.

In a statement to the inquest, her husband John Tucker said: ‘The abuse and subsequent court hearings took all her strength and it hit her really hard.

‘Her life appeared to be on the up. I can’t understand what would have made her do such a thing and I feel I’ll never come to terms with her death.’

He said his wife struggled for years to cope with the abuse she received as a child and she admitted she was drinking too much alcohol.

Leyna Tucker

Andrew Fulcher

Leyna Ann Tucker (left) was molested by Andrew Fulcher (right, outside court) when she was aged between 11 and 13

He added that she had cut back in recent years but was still prone to binge-drinking at times.

Detective Constable Martin Hearn told the inquest that Mrs Tucker had stayed at her friend’s house on the night she died and no-one had any idea that anything was wrong.

But when her friend awoke at 5.20am on May 13, Mrs Tucker was missing.

DC Hearn said her Ford Focus car was found stuck on a Cornish hedge in front of the cliffs at Porthleven at 6.50am by a member of the public, prompting a search of the coastline by coastguards and an RNLI lifeboat.

Her body was later discovered by the lifeboat crew at 8am and the hearing was told that she had died as a result of multiple injuries from falling from the cliff.

The body of Mrs Tucker was discovered in the sea at the base of cliffs in Porthleven, Cornwall, in May last year (stock image)

The body of Mrs Tucker was discovered in the sea at the base of cliffs in Porthleven, Cornwall, in May last year (stock image)

DC Hearn added: ‘It looks like on her phone she made two messages, one to a friend and the other to her husband. In both she gave the indication she was going to attempt to drive off the cliff.’

Assistant coroner Barrie van den Berg said: ‘For a conclusion of suicide, you have to be sure about that and in this case I am not, because of the incredibly high alcohol reading which would make anyone’s subjective view of things difficult and the fact her husband says this was not a deliberate suicide.

‘She had a lot to live for. I think we are left with nothing really, accept noting what’s happened and with the background that she was so upset and worried by the abuse she received in the past.’

He recorded an open verdict.



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