{"id":47921,"date":"2014-09-15T18:31:06","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T18:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=47921"},"modified":"2014-09-15T18:31:06","modified_gmt":"2014-09-15T18:31:06","slug":"mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother jumps to her death with son on her back"},"content":{"rendered":"

A suicidal mother jumped to her death with her eldest son on her back, hours before her younger boy was found dead at home, an inquest has heard.<\/span><\/p>\n

Katherine Hooper and five-year-old son Joshua Patterson were killed when they plunged 100 feet from a rock on Dartmoor in July last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

When police later went to her family home in Paignton, Devon, they discovered her youngest son, Sam, dead in a double bed.<\/span><\/p>\n

An inquest in nearby Torquay today heard that a suicide note was found by police hidden within a book on a shelf at her home.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\"In<\/div>\n

In a statement made after the inquest, the boys’ father said he believes Ms Hooper panicked after finding her younger son drowned in the bath and decided to take her own life and that of her other son<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The note was not dated but detectives believe it was written a couple of weeks before the tragic series of deaths.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday a coroner ruled that Ms Hooper killed herself and unlawfully killed Joshua. He recorded an open verdict on toddler Sam.<\/span><\/p>\n

The hearing was told a Dutch holidaymaker sent police a photo which showed Ms Hooper and Joshua on the rock in the moments before they fell to their deaths.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other witnesses told how they watched in horror as Ms Hooper walked to the edge of the rock with Joshua on her back and fell.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms Hooper and Joshua both died from multiple injuries, suffering head and neck wounds, the inquest heard.<\/span><\/p>\n

A pathologist was unable to ascertain what killed Sam. The South Devon coroner Ian Arrow said: ‘I am not certain that I can record drowning as his medical cause of death.’<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr Arrow said Sam ‘probably died before’ the day his mum and older brother fell to their deaths and he said Ms Hooper and Joshua had left their home ‘in a hurry’ after he died.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Home Office forensic pathologist Dr Russell Delaney said Sam’s death was ‘suggestive of drowning’.<\/span>\u00a0\"The\"The<\/p>\n

\n

The inquest heard Joshua (left) was seen holding onto his mother’s back before the fall and Sam (right) was found in a wet double bed at the family’s home in Paignton, Devon<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"Ms<\/div>\n

Ms Hooper’s father said his daughter had previously taken an overdose, but ‘sounded alright’ before the deaths<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The pathologist said there was no evidence that Sam had been smothered but a bath half full of water was found by police.<\/span><\/p>\n

Detective Sergeant Andy James, from the Major Crime Investigation Team, said people climbing the rock near Bovey Tracey, Devon, saw a woman with a young child.<\/span><\/p>\n

He told the inquest: ‘They seemed to be precariously close to the edge of the rock.’<\/span><\/p>\n

A German holidaymaker said Joshua was ‘on the back piggy back style walking slowly to the edge’ before sitting down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another tourist said: ‘She was standing there with the child on her back. It was flashing through my mind that it was dangerous, standing there.<\/span><\/p>\n

‘There was a child on her back, then she left it and sat there lying down like she was sunbathing. She was looking at me, I was only about five metres away.’\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\"The<\/div>\n

The coroner ruled Joshua (right) had been unlawfully killed by his mother but returned an open verdict on Sam<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"Ms<\/div>\n

Ms Hooper’s father told the inquest in a statement that his daughter was a ‘lovely, caring person’<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

After their bodies were later found at the foot of the rock, police broke into the family home and found Sam ‘laid out’ on a double bed wearing a damp blue T-shirt.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said it appeared Sam had been laid on the bed and the water from his clothes seeped into the bed.<\/span><\/p>\n

The inquest heard from Ms Hooper’s father Peter, who said in his statement that his daughter was a ‘lovely, caring person’.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said by Christmas 2012 ‘a little bit of the spark had gone’ from Ms Hooper and a week later she took an overdose of pills and went missing.<\/span><\/p>\n

The two boys were taken into care and were returned to her two weeks later.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr Hooper said what happened in July was ‘a complete shock’ when she jumped off the rock killing Joshua and herself. He said when he last spoke to her on the phone ‘she sounded alright’.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\"Police<\/div>\n

Police found the mother and son at the foot of a rock on Dartmoor before breaking into the family home<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"A<\/div>\n

A police officer at the scene where tourists saw Ms Hooper sitting with Joshua before the fall<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Coroner Mr Arrow said he was satisfied Ms Hooper intended to take her own life and it was self inflicted.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said of Joshua: ‘On the balance of probabilities his mother jumped from rocks with the deceased on her back. I am satisfied, sadly, he was unlawfully killed.’<\/span><\/p>\n

The coroner said the deaths were ‘an intensely sad situation’ the families had to bear.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the hearing, the boys’ father Neil Patterson, who was estranged from Ms Hooper, made a statement blaming social services for the deaths.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said if social workers had intervened when the boys failed to turn up at school and playgroup then their lives would have been saved.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said he believed that Sam had accidentally drowned in Ms Hooper’s bath and said ‘the unimaginable sight’ of finding him dead led her to fear she would face criminal charges.<\/span><\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Source: Dailymail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A suicidal mother jumped to her death with her eldest son on her back, hours before her younger boy was found dead at home, an inquest has heard. Katherine Hooper and five-year-old son Joshua Patterson were killed when they plunged 100 feet from a rock on Dartmoor in July last year. When police later went […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":47924,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[14],"yoast_head":"\nMother jumps to her death with son on her back - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mother jumps to her death with son on her back - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A suicidal mother jumped to her death with her eldest son on her back, hours before her younger boy was found dead at home, an inquest has heard. Katherine Hooper and five-year-old son Joshua Patterson were killed when they plunged 100 feet from a rock on Dartmoor in July last year. When police later went […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-09-15T18:31:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/1410801608205_wps_72_Kat_Hooper_with_her_two_s.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"634\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"418\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"wp-needuser\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"wp-needuser\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back\/\",\"name\":\"Mother jumps to her death with son on her back - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-15T18:31:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-15T18:31:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/082ce6f21d23820875eabfffabe66278\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mother jumps to her death with son on her back\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\",\"name\":\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"description\":\"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/082ce6f21d23820875eabfffabe66278\",\"name\":\"wp-needuser\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ca736ce957cdd49525b860ab3ccffa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ca736ce957cdd49525b860ab3ccffa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"wp-needuser\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/wordpresss.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/wpsupp-user\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mother jumps to her death with son on her back - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mother jumps to her death with son on her back - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","og_description":"A suicidal mother jumped to her death with her eldest son on her back, hours before her younger boy was found dead at home, an inquest has heard. Katherine Hooper and five-year-old son Joshua Patterson were killed when they plunged 100 feet from a rock on Dartmoor in July last year. When police later went […]","og_url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back\/","og_site_name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3","article_published_time":"2014-09-15T18:31:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":634,"height":418,"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/1410801608205_wps_72_Kat_Hooper_with_her_two_s.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"wp-needuser","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@citi973","twitter_site":"@citi973","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"wp-needuser","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back\/","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back\/","name":"Mother jumps to her death with son on her back - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-09-15T18:31:06+00:00","dateModified":"2014-09-15T18:31:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/082ce6f21d23820875eabfffabe66278"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/mother-jumps-to-her-death-with-son-on-her-back\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mother jumps to her death with son on her back"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/","name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","description":"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/082ce6f21d23820875eabfffabe66278","name":"wp-needuser","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ca736ce957cdd49525b860ab3ccffa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ca736ce957cdd49525b860ab3ccffa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"wp-needuser"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/wordpresss.com"],"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/wpsupp-user\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47921"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}