A wealthy mother took her own life by jumping from the balcony of her city centre apartment after her ex-partner ‘took everything I had’, an inquest heard today.
Interior designer and mother-of-three Rachel O’Hare – who had set up a charity to support women fleeing domestic abuse – died instantly in the fall.
The 49-year-old had been embroiled in a bitter legal fight with her former celebrity antiques dealer fiancé Owen Pacey, 60, over a £2.7m home they had bought in the trendy Spitalfields area of London.
Coroner Zak Golombek recorded a conclusion of suicide over the tragedy on June 30 last year.
In a message to family members written on her iPhone three days before she died, and read out in court, Ms O’Hare wrote: ‘Try to fight Owen better than I did. He took everything I had. I feel a washed up nearly 50-year-old with no skills and no prospects, living in a depressing high rise.’
In the note, Ms O’Hare said that while she wished she was ‘strong like mum’, her sister Liz Fulton and other family members, she described herself as a ‘shell, dead inside’.
She said she had become ‘full of self-loathing’ and ‘just can’t get back to myself’.
Addressing her mother Dorothy Woodall’s battle with cancer, Ms O’Hare described her as a ‘fighter’ but added: ‘I know I’m being selfish but you wouldn’t want this version anyway. I don’t recognise myself.’
Mother-of-three Rachel O’Hare spoke of her suffering amid court battle with her ex-fiance
Ms O’Hare’s sister Liz Fulton, right, with husband Andy leaving Manchester Coroner’s Court
She also revealed she had taken ‘too many paracetamols’, leading to her waking up vomiting, that she had come out in hives and had muscle wastage; while a short spell in hospital in early June was the ‘last straw’.
Sending her love to her children, she added: ‘I just can’t face what’s ahead.’ The note was concluded with six kisses.
Mr Pacey said it was ‘not true’ Ms O’Hare was being left with nothing – and that he was seeking half the £1.4m value he had added to the house.
He said: ‘I’m not some scumbag villain who was after her money. All I wanted was what what I put into house. I loved her and worshipped the ground she walked on.
‘Rachel’s family told her not to pay for all the fireplaces, lighting and building works I did on the house. I added £1.4 million to the value.’
He said he had also given her 50pc of the value of his maisonette worth £1.2m.
The coroner added that police had investigated ‘matters relating to any third-party involvement’ and found no suspicious circumstances.
Mr Golombek said he was ‘conscious that the family have referred specifically in their correspondence to certain behaviours by Rachel’s ex partner and whether they may have contributed to the state she found herself in.’
He said that while it wasn’t for him ‘to dismiss any of that particular evidence… it’s not for me to make specific findings’.
Ms O’Hare said in a note before her death that Owen Pacey, above, ‘took everything I had’
Steven O’Hare, Ms O’Hare’s former husband, also attended the inquest into the tragedy
Mrs Woodall told how litigation involving her daughter’s former partner and associated costs ‘took their toll’.
She said: ‘Her sister and myself helped her but then another tranche of fees came along and I know that was instrumental in her state of mind.’
Mrs Fulton paid tribute her ‘really kind’ sibling, saying ‘Rachel lit up a room when she went in, cared about everything, was really generous, a good mum, good sister, great daughter and did so much for charity, women’s refuges’.
Mr Golombek said Ms O’Hare died from ‘injuries sustained when she jumped’ from her flat at Victoria House, in the Ancoats area of Manchester city centre.
A post mortem examination found Ms O’Hare – whose ex-husband Steven O’Hare, a Cheshire-based investment fund manager and the father of her children, was also in court – had no drink or drugs in her system.
The inquest heard that after her admission to Manchester Royal Infirmary early last June, she was provided with information on ‘crisis support’.
After her tragic death, it emerged Ms O’Hare was suing Mr Pacey for ownership of the London house.
According to court documents, she paid for the property in full and claimed it was rightfully hers.
Ms O’Hare alleged that Mr Pacey, a former squatter and self-made antique fireplace expert who counts Mick Jagger, Naomi Campbell, Kate Winslet and Orlando Bloom among his clients, had locked her out of the luxury home, stopped her from collecting her belongings, refused to pay any bills and threatened to ‘trash’ the interior.
The £2.7m home in Spitalfields at the centre of legal battle between Ms O’Hare and Mr Pacey
The couple, who split acrimoniously in May 2024, faced a High Court trial later last year.
Mr Pacey, who did not attend the inquest, denied persuading Ms O’Hare, whose domestic abuse charity provided toiletries for women living in refuges, to buy the house in their joint names.
He also denied being controlling and said they had only argued seriously twice.
Mr Pacey was approached for comment.
For help and support, call Samaritans on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or visit samaritans.org
