Death Plunge Mum: Alarm Was Raised 'Too Late'

A hospital did not tell police a mother and her baby were missing until 10 minutes after they had reached the spot where they fell to their deaths, an inquest heard.

Charlotte Bevan, 30, vanished from St Michael's Hospital in Bristol with her four-day-old daughter Zaani Tiana Bevan Malbrouck on 2 December last year.

Ms Bevan, wearing hospital slippers, was seen carrying the child out of the hospital in a blanket at 8.36pm, when temperatures outside were 3C (37.4F).

Avon Coroner's Court heard her partner Pascal Malbrouck - Zaani's father - had asked nurses to "keep an eye" on the pair as he left them at 8.25pm.

CCTV footage showed Ms Bevan, who suffered from schizophrenia and depression and was classed as high risk, walking up to the Clifton Observatory at 9.06pm.

But hospital staff did not contact police until 9.14pm - by which time it was "probably too late" to save Ms Bevan and Zaani, whose bodies were found on the Avon Gorge below.

A post-mortem examination concluded Ms Bevan died from multiple injuries, while Zaani's death was caused by head injuries consistent with the fall.

Detective Constable Russ Jones, of Avon and Somerset Police, told the inquest: "It was strongly believed that Charlotte went straight to (the Observatory) from the hospital.

"Of relevance to this inquest is that police received the call from the hospital at 21.14 hours.

"That was probably too late to find Charlotte and Zaani before they had fallen to their deaths."

The inquest heard a walker noticed a pair of slippers and a blanket by the Clifton Observatory but did not realise the significance until he heard of their disappearance.

He alerted police on 3 December and Ms Bevan's body was discovered on the Avon Gorge that evening.

"The search of the cliff face continued into the early hours in the hope that Zaani might be found alive," Mr Jones said.

"She was not found."

Officers resumed the search on 4 December and Zaani's body was found in shrubbery close to where her mother's had been located.

The inquest was told Ms Bevan developed mental problems after her father's death from a brain tumour and that she had been sectioned more than once.

There were times when her family were "genuinely afraid of her and for her" but they never thought she would harm her baby.

The hearing continues.