A mother whose body was found in a fast-flowing river three weeks after she disappeared had struggled with post-natal depression and drank heavily as a coping mechanism to deal with childhood trauma, an inquest heard.
Bride-to-be Victoria Taylor, 34, vanished from her home in Malton, North Yorks, at around 9am on September 30 last year.
A major search operation was launched when she was reported missing the following day, with drones, sonar, and specialist underwater teams scouring the River Derwent.
Her personal belongings – including a camouflage cap and rucksack – were later found close to the water’s edge.
Despite desperate efforts from police, family and volunteers, Miss Taylor’s body was not recovered until October 22, when divers located her remains in the water.
An inquest heard how Miss Taylor, known as Vixx to family and friends, had suffered trauma from an early age and had struggled to cope in adulthood.
Her fiancé Matthew Williams and her eldest sister Emma Worden told the hearing they believed she had also developed post-natal depression after giving birth to her daughter Nancy in September 2022.
Area coroner Catherine Cundy questioned whether NHS mental health services had ‘missed opportunities’ to intervene, after learning Miss Taylor had previously expressed suicidal thoughts.
Victoria Taylor, 34, was reported missing from her home in Malton, North Yorkshire, on September 30 and her body was found three weeks later
Victoria Taylor left home around 9am on September 30 and was seen on CCTV at a BP garage at 11.35am. She was seen inside the garage wearing a camo hat and a Adidas coat
She had been rescued from the same river just three months earlier after entering the water while drunk – when the water was both warmer and shallower. The Derwent was in full spate at the time of her death due to heavy rain.
Despite being referred to the crisis team, she was later advised to self-refer to a private psychological service if she felt distressed again.
On another occasion in May 2024, she was referred to the crisis team after being found crying in the street and telling a friend she planned to jump in the river.
The crisis team met with Miss Taylor the following day and concluded ‘there was no role for mental health services,’ instead suggesting lower-level talking therapies.
Ms Cundy told North Yorkshire Coroners’ Court: ‘Trauma was quite obviously a trigger for this self-harming and drinking that places her at an impulsive risk of death.
‘I can’t see it actually being addressed with her that mental health services could have supported her in dealing with the underlying trauma.’
On July 31, Miss Taylor was pulled from the River Derwent. She saw her GP on August 2 when he again referred her for crisis assessment.
He recorded in his notes that Miss Taylor had placed herself ‘in the river with the intention of ending her life’.
There was a further assessment on August 20 when she was taken to the emergency department for a check up after her fiancé found empty packets of pills.
She had been found in a field in the town by her brother after one of Victoria’s sisters was contacted by text to say what she had done.
She was taken to hospital with a suspected overdose. She was ‘tearful and low in mood and drinking three bottles of wine to cope with distress’, it was said.
She told paramedics she had taken the pills because she wanted to die but then felt ‘silly for taking it because it was an impulsive act’.
Police water search units were seen scouring the river on October 4 – two weeks before her remains were found
Victoria Taylor pictured with her husband-to-be Matthew. The father previously issued a tearful plea for her to return
She was signed off work as a care home dementia unit manager at this time.
There was another assessment by mental health services on August 20 but again the clinicians concluded that they did not have a role with Victoria, who was having online therapy.
Northallerton Coroner’s Court was told the only change was they asked her GP to limit her prescriptions to weekly to counter the risk of an overdose.
Miss Taylor was last seen on CCTV walking towards the River Derwent after stopping at a BP garage and Malton bus station on the morning she vanished.
Days earlier, she and Mr Williams had returned from an all-inclusive family holiday to Majorca, where he said she drank heavily and would ‘disappear during the day to try and source alcohol.’
She slept on the flight back. She went to the shops on Friday September 27 in the afternoon and picked up some of her favourite soft drinks including a Dr Pepper.
On Sunday, they visited Mr Williams’ parents. He went to the shops to top up the gas and electricity but made a mistake with the payment and she went out saying she would sort it out.
By the evening, she was under the influence and he realised she must have bought alcohol while she was out.
She went out for a takeaway and when she returned she seemed emotional and incoherent and ‘not making a lot of sense’.
He had dropped their daughter off at his parents. After a disturbed night, his alarm went off the next morning he realised Victoria was not at home.
She returned home on Monday September 30 – but then left home, saying she was planning to visit her sister.
Mr Williams told how he had searched for his fiancée the next day after she failed to come home, scouring the riverbanks with two friends.
Victoria Taylor is pictured with her brother Joe. She was reported missing on September 30 last year
When he came across a can of Dr Pepper and two bottles of sparkling water – her favourite drinks – he said he ‘knew deep down’ that she had been there.
He said: ‘The river at that time was running fast and was moving fast.’
The hearing was told that Victoria’s body was found on October 22 floating in the water very close to where she had waded into the river on a previous occasion on July 31.
However, police who investigated her disappearance, told the inquest that at time in July the water would have been warmer.
When she entered the water for the second fatal time, probably around 2pm on September 30, when all communications from her ceased, the water was cold.
It was also significantly deeper, probably by 6ft to 9th deeper, because the Derwent was in full spate due to heavy rain.
In those conditions, Det Supt Graeme Wright told the hearing: ‘The moment she stepped off the bank she would have been out of her depth.
‘The water was about 10 degrees – cold – and would have given cold water shock to anyone. It would have been very different to in July.’
Tests would later reveal 127 millilitres of alcohol in blood – one and a half times the legal drink drive limit of 80 and enough to give her double vision, the inquest heard.
Miss Taylor had told her counsellor while on holiday she had worked out routes to her hotel that deliberately avoided any bars, the inquest was told.
‘She said she was beside the river and described the water. She said she was lying on the grass and not intending to self harm but was gong to her sister’s,’ Ms Cotton said.
Victoria Taylor with her fiancé Matthew and their two-year-old daughter
In fact she had taken an overdose.
While she was on holiday in Spain her mood seemed to improve but she turned to drink towards the end of the holiday, it was said.
On 11pm on Sunday September 29, the day she before she vanished, she paid £63 for a taxi driver to take her to an all night garage to buy cigarettes and wine.
Her fiancé believes the amount she paid showed how determined she was to get a drink.
She also rang her fiancé’s father a number of times, claiming her fiancé had fallen into the river.
On the day she disappeared, Monday September 30, she took a 6.40am train to York to buy booze from a shop at the station before returning home again.
She was then seen by her fiancé behaving strangely in the garden before booking another taxi at 11.35am to buy water and soft drinks at the same all night garage.
Detectives later found her on CCTV behaving strangely around Malton, shouting and having conversations with herself, and hiding behind things at the bus station, although there was no evidence she was being followed.
Her fiance made numerous attempts to call her and she finally answered at 12.35pm, saying she was in a place with shrubs and trees, which led him to believe she was down by the river.
All communications ceased at 2pm that day – when detectives believed she died from entering the river.
Reading a summarised statement from Mr Williams, the coroner said: ‘You think after your daughter was born, Vixx suffered from post-natal depression.
‘Life with Vixx was great with the exception of the impact of the alcohol.
‘You and your daughter couldn’t have wished for anyone better in your lives.’
Malton town centre, where missing woman Victoria Taylor lived with her fiancé and daughter
Emma Worden described her younger sister as a ‘loving person’ and ‘very proud of her work’ as the manager of a dementia unit, insisting that she ‘was not an alcoholic’ but drank as ‘coping mechanism’ to mask the ‘heaviness of her past’.
Miss Taylor had a history of anxiety, depression and alcohol misuse, the court was told.
At the inquest, Det Supt Wright defended his decision not to release details of Miss Taylor’s issues with alcohol and mental health to the Press, saying it was ‘not appropriate’ at that time.
As the coroner rose to consider her conclusions, her sister Emma accused NHS mental heath providers of writing off her sister as an alcoholic and failing to treat her unresolved childhood trauma.
She said: ‘No one directly looked her in the eye and said ‘We will help you’. She is not here today because you failed her.’
Recording her conclusions, Coroner Catherine Candy said: ‘She was a clearly much loved partner, mother and sister. She also had a responsible job she clearly enjoyed and did well.
‘She also suffered dejection and trauma in childhood which left an indelible mark on her life.’
The agencies who dealt with Vixx view her alcohol problems differently. Those who knew her knew she could function with alcohol and hold down a job.
Emma Worden described her younger sister as a ‘loving person’ and ‘very proud of her work’ as the manager of a dementia unit
But she turned to alcohol for her feelings, which made those feelings worse, and increased the risk of self harm.
‘She would binge drink to try and blot out the negative thoughts that plagued her,’ she added.
She was therefore at increasing risk of serious harm. A number of agencies were involved In before her death, but no secondary mental health services.
She was referred to a talking therapy service for low level on line cognitive therapy which was not face to face.
In May 2024 she was taken to her GP by a fiend in distress after contemplating going in to the river and leaving a note for her daughter.
The assessment in may concluded her problems were mainly alcohol related and she was advised to attend Alcoholism Anonymous.
She was also in appointments and an on line support programme with Horizons.. But she told her GP she would benefit from Face to face therapy h and was again referred to the mental health team. But they did not consider they had any role.
By 2024 several agencies were involved and her life had taken a signifant turn for the worse including going into the River Derwent, leading to another assessment on August 3.
But it was suggested instead she seek a private therapist. ‘Beyond that the other part of the safety plan relates to things she was already engaged with.’
Less than three weeks later on August 20 mental health saw her again after she took an apparent overdose to end her life. Again it was deemed there was no role for mental health services.
The coroner said she found it difficult to understand why this escaping pattern of binge drinking suicidal thoughts and self harm did not trigger a multi agency assessment of her needs.
There was no evidence of her being offered NHS treatement for unresolved trauma by community mental health team, even though there were resourcing issues.
‘But I am still struggling to understand why she was sign posted to private health therapy. She was capable of sobriety and could decide for herself what was best for her. She was left in something of a limbo.’
On holiday, she was offered advice about avoiding alcohol. But it increased during the holiday
After they returned, ‘things spiralled out of control once again’ with her behaviour becoming ‘increasingly erratic and out of control including being witnessed ‘fleeing from an invisible pursuer’.
Conditions when she entered the water being very different to the first time she went in including depth and temperature.
There were no suspicious circumstances. She could not be satisfied that Miss Taylor entered the water with the intention of ending her life.
‘Vixx plainly had a preoccupation with entering the river as a potential method of suicide and had entered up to her waist on July 31 before being pulled out.
‘I found she did enter the river intentionally but not that she did so with the intention of ending her life.’
Her judgement and coordination would have impaired her judgement and the depth and temperature would have quickly overwhelmed her.
She recorded a narrative conclusion that her body had been recovered from the river by an underwater search unit and declared dead.
‘She died of a consequence of drowning from entering the river but her intention at the time of doing so are unclear,’ she said.
She also voiced criticism over the role of Tees, Esk and Wear NHS Foundation Trust in providing appropriate mental heath support to Ms Taylor.,
Despite an ‘escalating pattern of binge drinking, suicidal thoughts and impulsive acts of self harm’, Ms Taylor was left ‘in something of a limbo’.
Ms Cundy said: ‘There’s no objective evidence towards me of Vixx being offered the option of a treatment pathway within the NHS to deal with her unresolved trauma.’
A missing person poster is displayed on the approach to Malton as North Yorkshire Police continue to search for 34-year-old Victoria Taylor on October 06
Announcing her intention to file a report to prevent future deaths, the coroner added: ‘Action should be taken to address the concerns I have identified and all agencies involved with Vixx should consider what they can learn from her case to better support vulnerable people like her in the future.’
The coroner added: ‘Vixx was just 34 years old. She was clearly a much loved mother, partner and sister. She also had a responsible job, one which she clearly enjoyed and did well.
‘Against those positive factors, Vixx also suffered rejection and trauma in childhood which plainly left an indelible mark in her life in the form of depression, anxiety and chronic feelings of worthlessness.’
She would make a prevention of future deaths report.
She said: ‘My concern is the absence of any recorded rationalise during the assessment of what I consider very limited safety plan.’
She accepted steps had been taken by the trust to support people like Victoria but only four people across Yorkshire were involved in what was still work in progress.
‘I do therefore conclude steps should be taken to find out what can be learned from her case.’
