Mystery over 22-year-old found dead from heroin overdose ‘administered by someone else’ while on shore leave in the Seychelles
Charles Warrender went off in a taxi on his own on the night of his death, breaching military rules
A ROYAL Navy serviceman found dead from a heroin overdose ‘likely administered by someone else’ was murdered according to his grieving mum.
Charles Warrender was just 22-year-old when he was found dead on the Seychelles islands with his socks and shoes laid beside him and an empty wallet.
A post mortem examination revealed he died from the combined effects of alcohol and a fatal dose of heroin.
But at an inquest into his death a coroner said “the overdose was likely administered by a third party”.
Now his heartbroken mum has spoken of her disappointment following the narrative conclusion.
Kate Warrender said there are still a lot of unanswered questions following her son’s death.
She added: "We are disappointed with the conclusion. We expected a conclusion of unlawful killing. We believe that he was murdered."
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Engineering Technician Charles was found dead in a park in the capital Victoria with a quantity of high-grade heroin sprinkled over his chest by an unknown person.
Experts suspected the serviceman’s body had been dumped there sometime between midnight, when he was last seen, and 6am, when his body was spotted by a police officer.
Grimsby and North Lincolnshire Coroner Paul Kelly said: "There was no objective evidence of illicit drug use by the deceased Charles Warrender. The overdose was likely administered by a third party."
The former grammar school pupil, known as Charlie, had been enjoying a night off as part of the Queen's birthday celebrations.
He had been part of a crew of 240 working on Operation Kipion which – in a cruel twist – aimed to disrupt the drug trade and the routes used by terrorists.
Mrs Warrender said she had looked into six deaths on the Seychelles islands over a 17-month period, including the death of her son among other servicemen who died while visiting the islands.
Charlie went off in a taxi on his own on the night of his death, breaching military rules.
Coroner Mr Kelly said ET Warrender would be aware that his Royal Navy career would be in jeopardy if he tested positive for drugs. He added that he had an aversion to needles.
Relying on the evidence of renowned forensic pathologist Dr Nathaniel Cary the coroner said "he could not exclude the possibility the fatal dose was administered by a third party".
Mr Kelly said: "There is a possibility a theft was a reason for his death."
Ministry of Defence investigators found that a card belonging to Charlie, from North Thoresby, Lincs, had been used three times at ATMs on the island – once before the group went out and twice after he went off on his own.
Dr Cary said he could not find any marks to show evidence of injection of heroin - and nor were there marks showing any duress or dragging.
He said the traces of white powder on his body suggested a high-grade heroin.
Dr Cary added: "Alcohol in combination with morphine more than adequately accounts for the cause of death."
He said it was likely he had been dumped from a vehicle.
He added: "Death was more likely to have occurred nearer to midnight than 6am. We have a missing number of hours."
The coroner heard that more than 25 hours of CCTV from the island had been examined but there was no trace of the serviceman after he went off in a taxi on his own.
However, there were witness statements from two people who had seen him, including Sheila Esparon who said she had seen him with two men and two women.
Another witness, Didier Dorizo, told investigators he had seen him with three men and three women.
He had also seen a man brandishing an iron bar angrily at the scene.
In a statement issued last year, ministers said: "Most visits to Seychelles are trouble-free, but tourists have been robbed. Crime levels are rising, with an increase in both targeted burglaries and opportunist thefts against residents and tourists.
"The inability of the authorities to catch and prosecute offenders is a concern."
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