Mother-of-three died after falling down the stairs following an argument with her boyfriend, inquest hears

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A mother-of-three died after falling down the stairs following an argument with her boyfriend, an inquest has heard. 

Dawn Walker died in hospital on July 11, 2020, two weeks after she was seriously injured during the fall at her home in Newchurch Road in Bacup, Lancashire.

Assistant Coroner Laura Nash heard from Ms Walker's best friend Katie that the mother was 'pushed down the stairs' by her boyfriend Damien Taylor after the couple argued over a bottle of Lambrini in the early hours of June 25, 2020. 

But at Accrington Town Hall today, the coroner said it was 'more likely than not' that Ms Walker had lost her balance.

Although Katie had not seen the push, she said she was adamant that the speed and manner in which Ms Walker 'flew' down the stairs could only have been caused by Mr Taylor pushing her. 

Dawn Walker (right with daughter Nicola) died in hospital on July 11, 2020, after she was seriously injured during the fall at her home in Newchurch Road, Bacup, in the early hours of June 25

Assistant Coroner Laura Nash heard from Ms Walker's best friend Katie that the mother was 'pushed down the stairs' by her boyfriend Damien Taylor (pictured) after the couple argued over a bottle of Lambrini

David Talbot, who was also at Ms Walker's house on the night of the incident, had been friends with both her and Mr Taylor since the three were children.

He told the coroner he witnessed an argument between the couple, who had been on an 'on-off' relationship for several years, with Ms Walker stabbing Mr Taylor with a fork. He also said he could not be sure if she was pushed or she fell.

Mr Taylor, aged 37 at the time, was arrested but he denied causing Ms Walker's injuries or her death. 

In May this year a post appeared on Mr Taylor's Facebook page in which he said his actions had been 'self-defence' but, when arrested a second time, he refused to comment. 

At the inquest today, Mr Taylor said he 'didn't write that' but under intense questioning from the coroner he admitted he might have done so.

At the hearing, the coroner explained to Mr Taylor that no witness is obliged to answer any question which might incriminate them. 

In 2017, Ms Walker had been jailed for more than five years after she was convicted of wounding with intent following an incident when Damien suffered stab wounds.

Giving evidence at the inquest, best friend Katie described Ms Walker as 'brilliant'. She said the couple had been in an 'on-off' relationship for several years and that they 'used to fall out a lot'.

At Accrington Town Hall today, the coroner said it was 'more likely than not' that Ms Walker (second from left, with famil) had lost her balance

In the hours before the incident, Ms Walker and Katie had spent some time in a local park where they drank a few bottles of Budweiser. Before the pair separated Katie said that Ms Walker had 'a bit of a scuffle' with a woman and received an injury to her face.

Later that night Katie arrived at Ms Walker's home, having carried on drinking, with David who she had spent the afternoon with. Mr Taylor was in the house along with Ms Walker's daughter Nicole who was upstairs.

Katie described how, in the early hours of June 25, the couple began arguing over a bottle of wine and started 'pushing and shoving' each other. Mr Taylor then went upstairs, taking the bottle with him, with Ms Walker following to get the wine back.

Ms Walker's children began to cry during the inquest as Katie said: 'He then pushed against her right at the top of the stairs. I seen her come flying down the stairs; she was pushed down the stairs.'

Katie recalled how Mr Taylor then said 'oh no' and went back upstairs before coming down with Ms Walker's mobile phone. Katie called 999 as her best friend laid at the bottom of the stairs unconscious but breathing.

Police arrived at the scene before the paramedics turned up and took Ms Walker to the Royal Preston Hospital. 

Later that day, on June 25, Katie gave a statement to police in which she said that neither Ms Walker or Mr Taylor had suffered any injuries prior to the incident on the stairs.

The coroner then told Katie that she expected to hear evidence from other witnesses who claimed that Ms Walker had tried to stab Mr Taylor with a fork. Katie said she knew nothing about that and she also said she didn't see her friend try to headbutt Mr Taylor.

Pictured: Floral tributes were left for Dawn Walker following her tragic death three years ago

Under prolonged questioning from the coroner over her statement to police, Katie was asked if she recalled telling a police officer that she had seen a broken iron in the kitchen which had allegedly been thrown earlier. 

However, during the inquest, Katie said she couldn't remember this.

David, who had been friends with the couple, also gave evidence during the hearing. He told the coroner that on a scale of 1-10 of drunkenness that night David said he was seven.

He said that in the early hours of June 25 Mr Taylor tried to leave the house but Ms Walker refused to let him and locked the door. 'Damien went to go upstairs, backwards, and then they started scrapping,' David told the inquest.

David said Ms Walker then 'stabbed Damien twice with a fork' on his legs as the pair were stood on the stairs arguing. 'Then she came flying down; I don't know if she fell or was pushed,' he added. David denied saying 'dirty, f***ing horrible b****' which a neighbour told police she had heard a man say outside the house after the fall.

Mr Taylor was then called to give evidence to the inquest. He said his recollection of the events of June 24 and 25 was 'clear'. 'When I said I was going she started going mad,' he said.

'She grabbed the bottle of wine off me, I started putting my coat on, and then she started swinging an iron round over her head. She had a three-pronged fork, she's stabbed me before so I started backing up the stairs, I thought it was a knife.

'She stabbed me. Once to the leg and once where it ripped through my top but it didn't get me.'

Mr Taylor described how he managed to get to the top of the stairs with Ms Walker following him. 

As she reached the top step, Mr Taylor said he tried to block her from stabbing him. The coroner then reminded Mr Taylor that he did not have to answer the following question if his response could incriminate him.

'Did you do anything physically to Dawn to stop her?' the coroner asked. 'No,' Mr Taylor replied. 'She fell, she just went backwards.'

He said he then left the house because Ms Walker had been banned from contacting him following her release from prison in 2019. The coroner said the conditions of Ms Walker's licence had been varied in 2019 to allow her to contact him but Mr Taylor denied being aware of this.

Three years after Ms Walker's death a post appeared on Damien's Facebook account, on May 22 of this year, and which remains on his profile at the time of writing, stating: 'All I did was push her off me, she hit her head at the bottom of the stairs... It was self-defence.'

The inquest for mother-of-three Dawn Walker was held at Accrington Town Hall (pictured) today

Professor Philip Lumb, a Home Office forensic pathologist, carried out a post mortem following Dawn's death. 

Prof Lumb, known for having been involved in the investigation into the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, told the coroner that Ms Walker had suffered a 'significant brain injury' following a 'very heavy impact with a hard surface such as the floor'.

The external injuries, coupled with the brain injury - known as a contrecoup injury - showed that she had fallen 'from a height'. Prof Lumb added: 'The most interesting thing is that we see these [injuries] in pushes.'

The coroner asked Prof Lumb to comment on the evidence from witnesses who described how Ms Walker had 'flown' down the stairs. However, Prof Lumb said he was unable to categorically say if she had been pushed or had over-balanced, and added: 'I can't differentiate between the two.'

The coroner highlighted to Detective Chief Inspector Tom Edmondson that suspicion around how Ms Walker had come to fall down the stairs 'was aroused very, very quickly'. 'Yeah,' he replied.

However, despite a lengthy investigation, which was re-opened in June following Mr Taylor's Facebook post, DCI Edmondson said detectives did not feel the evidence met the threshold required to submit the case to the CPS for consideration of charging him.

This was due to the fact that no witnesses, other than Mr Taylor, had categorically seen how Ms Walker had fallen down the stairs. 'We can't base an investigation on the description of a fall,' he added.

The coroner said in her conclusion: 'Dawn had attacked Damien before she pursued him up the stairs.

'It is more likely than not that Dawn continued to advance up the stairs. It is more likely than not that she was unsteady on her feet and in that heightened state or emotion and intoxication Dawn did in fact lose her balance..'

After Ms Walker's death, her daughter Nicole posted on Facebook: 'At 19 I never ever thought my mum would be taken away from me - not like this anyway.

'My little sleeping beauty, from day one you had my back, you raised me, picked me up and loved me with everything you could. We had some challenging times but you always tried and tried your best.

'My life is no longer complete and there will always be a hole in my heart that you have taken with you.

'The past 17 days have been torture but still being able to hold you, see you, touch you and assist you have made it a whole lot easier and for that to now go to nothing I don't know what I'm going to do without you.'