Inquest Sought for “Truth” in ITV Journalist’s Death Following Domestic Abuse Report

The relatives of an ITV journalist, who passed away weeks subsequent to reporting domestic abuse, express their desire for the inquest to uncover “the truth”. A recent legal proceeding revealed that Teresa McMahon, aged 43, had informed police about abuse two weeks prior to her discovery deceased in Salford in August 2021. Lorna McMahon, the aunt, stated her conviction that deficiencies on the part of Greater Manchester Police (GMP) might have played a role in her niece’s demise. Lucy Meacock, a friend and former ITV presenter, additionally characterized the intermittent relationship Ms McMahon was involved in as “volatile”. During a pre-inquest hearing, a letter from Ms Meacock was presented, outlining how Ms McMahon referred to her former partner, Robert Chambers, as her “soulmate”, despite their relationship being “volatile”. Ms Meacock, who anchored the regional news program Granada Reports for 36 years, mentioned that Ms McMahon had “confided” in her, prompting Ms Meacock to counsel her to separate from Mr Chalmers. “They would often drink heavily, then get into fights when he would get aggressive towards her,” she wrote. “They sounded like very heated fights,” she added. Lorna McMahon has been championing her niece’s cause since her mother’s passing earlier this year. She lodged multiple complaints regarding GMP with the police watchdog, subsequently initiating High Court proceedings against the watchdog in March. “She was extremely intelligent, very bubbly and very witty,” she said. Ms McMahon had been employed by ITV’s Granada Reports as a producer and reporter since 2016. “She turned her life around and worked for ITV for the last six years of her life and she did amazingly well,” her aunt said. Her death was discovered following a period of absence from work due to Covid. Law enforcement determined she had ended her own life. Her aunt emphasized that it was “vital” for Thursday’s inquest to investigate the domestic abuse allegations “so we can get to the truth”. The legal proceedings in March permit the reporting of numerous circumstances from the weeks and months preceding her death, though the case itself did not aim to verify the veracity of her allegations. The court’s judgment indicated that Ms McMahon had maintained an intermittent relationship with Mr Chalmers during the year prior to her death and had “told friends and family that he had assaulted her on several occasions”. Testimony in court revealed she contacted GMP in July 2021, informing the call handler “he’s also broke my fingers, broke my ribs, generally just battered me and attacked me loads”. Her call was made to ascertain if Mr Chalmers had a history of domestic abuse, by submitting a request under Clare’s Law, a domestic violence disclosure scheme. An inquiry conducted by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), summarized in the High Court judgment, determined that a junior officer incorrectly informed Ms McMahon that her Clare’s Law request would be unsuccessful due to her and Mr Chalmers no longer being a couple. The IOPC concluded that the response was provided in “error” stemming from a “myth” prevalent within GMP that Clare’s Law was not applicable to former partners. The investigation further revealed a nine-day delay before an officer met with Ms McMahon after she reported her allegations, a delay a senior officer subsequently conceded “would have done nothing to inspire her with confidence that her concerns were being taken seriously”. “She probably felt that the police aren’t interested in her allegations,” her aunt said, adding “it made her more vulnerable”. “The very fact that Teresa was told that she’s not entitled to disclosure I think also put her in quite a vulnerable position, because you’re inclined to believe what the police tell you,” she said. A conclusive determination regarding the approval of the Clare’s Law application had not been reached by the time of her death. The High Court proceedings revealed that Ms McMahon subsequently withdrew her complaints against Mr Chalmers. The court was informed that a neighbour had “confirmed to police that some weeks previously she had intervened in a row”, following which the neighbour had requested Mr Chalmers depart the residence. The court was further informed that a post-mortem investigation into Ms McMahon’s death determined that “the only evidence” of domestic abuse would have constituted an allegation of common assault, “for which the six-month statute limit of prosecution had expired”, thereby precluding Mr Chalmers’ prosecution. Additionally, the court heard that the posthumous investigation had concluded there was “not enough evidence to corroborate” concerns that she had been subjected to coercive control. The IOPC’s assessment determined that police were “not in possession of information” indicating Ms McMahon “may have been experiencing suicidal thoughts” and that “appropriate safeguarding information was provided”. Dissatisfied with the IOPC’s conduct, her aunt initiated a judicial review against the watchdog at the High Court, advocating for them to compel GMP to re-commence their investigation into the death and examine potential third-party involvement. The court was informed that police concluded there was “no evidence of criminality or third-party involvement”. A police officer, who claimed to have reviewed the post-mortem report, stated “there is nothing to suggest Teresa was the victim of any serious domestic violence in the report”, according to court testimony. They additionally referenced a report from her GP indicating she had “a long history of mental health problems and had received support”. Ms Meacock penned that she did not recollect ever observing McMahon with physical injuries and affirmed she had never encountered Mr Chalmers. During the pre-inquest hearing in October, Coroner Mary Hassel, while reading Ms Meacock’s letter aloud, stressed “I have absolutely no information as to the truth of any of these statements”. The inquest was relocated from Greater Manchester to St Pancras Coroner’s Court following Lorna McMahon’s appeal to the most senior coroner in England and Wales. In a decision letter, Chief Coroner Alexia Durran stated the relocation was approved “to avoid any perception of conflict given the jurisdiction of GMP and the concerns the applicant has raised”. The complete inquest hearing is scheduled for a single day, which Ms McMahon remarked “is not long enough in my opinion”. “In order to get to the truth you need all the relevant evidence to be considered and you need all the relevant witnesses,” she said. Mr Chalmers did not reply to requests for comment, but he has previously refuted all accusations of wrongdoing. A statement from GMP read: “Our thoughts continue to be with Ms McMahon’s family. We remain fully engaged with getting Teresa’s loved ones the answers they deserve through an independent, full and fearless inquiry into her death.”