An aesthetics doctor was found dead in the bath after discovering her boyfriend had a one-night stand, an inquest heard.
Dr Rielle Longhurst was under the influence of wine and opioid medication when she drowned at her Notting Hill flat on August 22 last year, Inner West London Coroners’ Court was told.
The 30-year-old had learnt her partner Charlie Procter cheated on her on a work trip to France and that night he visited her to talk about it, at which point they argued.
As he left to stay with his parents, she ‘made remarks about wanting to commit suicide’, but he didn’t think she was serious, the Mail Online reports.
He tried to phone Dr Longhurst the following morning but she failed to answer. He also noticed she hadn’t been active on social media, which was unusual.
Concerned, Mr Procter went to her flat and when she didn’t open the door he looked through the bathroom window and saw her submerged in the bath, the inquest heard.
He managed to climb through the window, pulled her out of the water and performed CPR but was unable to revive her.
Paramedics, who were called at 12.03pm, pronounced Dr Longhurst dead at the scene.
Det Con Jorge Sobral, from the Metropolitan Police told the inquest two glasses of wine were found in the flat.
Empty medication packets, meanwhile, were found in a plant pot and a half-empty container in the bathroom.
Dr Longhurst had also left letters to her parents and sister.
A toxicology report found her blood contained levels of alcohol that were above the legal driving limit, as well a high – but not fatal – level of opioid medication.
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The inquest concluded she died from a misadventure by drowning, with assistant coroner Jean Harkin suggesting the alcohol and drugs made her ‘drowsy and sleepy’.
She said her family and Mr Procter do not believe she took her own life.
The inquest heard Ms Longhurst started working as an aesthetics doctor in London in June 2023.
She met Mr Procter in 2021, who her father Graham Longhurst described as ‘the love of her life, everything she’d ever wanted’.
He added: ‘Charlie strayed and it really upset her.’
Mr Longhurst said his daughter was extremely empathetic and ‘an all or nothing kind of girl’.
Ms Longhurst texted Mr Procter on August 20 saying ‘she wanted to die because he cheated,’ the court heard.
The following day she messaged again saying goodbye and wishing him luck for the future.
Ms Longhurst’s friend Tory Kaye told the inquest she last saw her at 3.20pm on August 21.
She explained Ms Longhurst had been texting the woman Mr Procter had a one-night stand with, asking for more information about what happened.
Ms Harkin told the inquest: ‘We have heard that the break-up of a relationship with her partner troubled her and she made comments about not wanting to live, but I do not find that unusual in the break-up of a relationship.
‘In addition we know that the toxicology evidence showed that Rielle had taken an opioid at a high level, but that doesn’t refer to a fatal level.
‘She had also taken alcohol and the combination would have depressant effects on the nervous system.
‘It would make her very sleepy and very drowsy.’
Ms Harkin said no one could be certain the letters were written shortly before she died and added: ‘The family and Charlie both knew her well and they do not believe that she intended to die.’
Ms Longhurst was one of five siblings and a talented grammar school pupil, the inquest heard.
She studied medicine at the University of Liverpool, qualifying in 2017.
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