‘Devoted’ Blackpool mum, 29, found dead in bed by her boyfriend

Kasha Smith, 29, was found dead in her bed at her Richmond Avenue home by her partner, Paul Sproat, on the morning of March 13, 2022.

The mum-of-one was last seen alive at around 4pm on March 12, when she decided to go to bed early after going out with her friends the night before.

At her inquest at Blackpool town hall today, Mr Sproat, who had been in a relationship with Miss Smith for five years and spent one night a week at the house with their son, Bleu, said: "She informed me that she had been drinking the night before. At 4pm Kasha said 'I'm going to to bed now, OK'. I didn't take much notice as I knew she had not gone to bed the night before.

"I stayed up watching TV with our son until 10pm, at that point I got into bed with Kasha. At that point, I did not notice anything wrong with her."

But when Mr Sproat woke up at 7.30am, he found Miss Smith was not covered by the quilt, and when he covered her up, he found she was cold.

He said: "I tried to shake her awake and she didn't respond, so I called an ambulance."

He performed CPR on Miss Smith until paramedics arrived, and she was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

A post mortem carried out by Blackpool Victoria Hospital pathologist Dr Suboda Weerasinghe found life-threatening levels of cocaine and methadone in her system.

The court also heard from her GP, Dr Neelima Augustine of Stonyhill Medical Practice, who said Miss Smith had suffered from depression and bipolar disorder for 13 years.

Her mum, Laura Smith, said: "Kasha was very outgoing. She made everybody laugh. She worshipped her son, she was absolutely devoted to him.

"He's doing brilliantly, considering what he has been through.

"Everybody knew Kasha. She had just under 300 people at her funeral.

"She was loud and big. You'd know if she was on her way - in Fleetwood, she could bring the boats in. She liked music and going out with her friends. She was a real party animal."

Handing down a conclusion of a drugs related death, coroner Andrew Cousins said: "Having last been seen alive on March 13, Kasha Smith was found deceased at Richmond Road, Blackpool. Toxicology showed a quantity of drugs within her body that could have posed a threat to life."

He added: "I would like to express my condolences to the family of Kasha. I hope this process bring some degree of closure to this matter and I would like to wish them all the best for the future."