Pregnant Brit with no history of drug abuse found dead in Ghana hotel bath tub from heroin after husband left and told staff not to disturb her

A PREGNANT British woman with no history of drug abuse died in a hotel bath tub from acute heroin poisoning, an inquest heard.

Scottish-born Charmain Adusah's decomposing body was discovered by staff at a hotel in Ghana.

The mum-of-one, who has a child from a previous relationship, had been visiting the country with her Ghanaian husband, Eric Adusah, 28.

The Christian pastor had left the hotel two days before his wife, 41, was discovered after instructing staff not to disturb her.

They had gone to the country for work connected to his church.

Mr Adusah was present at the inquest hearing in Chelmsford, Essex, today along with Linda Speirs, Charmain's mum and her stepfather, Peter.

A large contingent of Adusah's congregation were also at the hearing.

Mr Adusah was charged with his wife’s murder in Ghana, but the case collapsed due to lack of evidence after it had been delayed because the autopsy report went missing.

Charmain who lived in Rayleigh, Essex was discovered at the Mac Dic Royal Plaza Hotel in Koforidua, Eastern Regional capital, when she failed to check out on 20 March, 2015.

Charmain was found with quantities of heroin, codine and morphine in her system - but no evidence of how it got there.

An interim autopsy report, issued the week after Charmain was found dead, indicated a heroin overdose as a cause of death.

But Charmain's family has insisted that was not possible, her mother, Linda, said she would never knowingly take drugs.

It is thought Charmain, originally from Arbroath, Angus, died sometime between March 18 and March 20 of 2015 after checking in at the hotel on March 16.

Doctor Charlotte Randall who carried out a second post-mortem examination when Charmain's body was returned to the UK said there was no evidence of assault or prolonged drug use.

She said: "At the time of post-mortem examination we took three samples of hair, liver and muscle."

Dr Randall found traces of heroin, codine and morphine in the liver and muscle samples but nothing in the hair.

She added: "There was no evidence of any drug use in the hair."

According to her a history of drug abuse would be evident in the hair like rings on a tree.

Based on her findings she said she could no ascertain the cause of death but did accept the findings from the earlier examination held in Ghana.

Charmain's body had remained in the country while the case against husband was on-going, but was later returned to Britain.

The second post-mortem examination was carried out in November, 2015.

An emotional Adusah, a leader of Global Light Revival Ministries Church in London, told the court: "I have no idea what happened, I don't know how it got into her body, I never seen her do anything like that".

He asked Dr Randall how it could have got into her system and was told the drugs could be injected, smoked or swallowed.

Dci Stuart Smith from Essex Police confirmed that there was no drug paraphernalia found at the scene or signs of how it was administered.

The attorney general in Ghana claimed there was no evidence connecting him to his wife's death.

DCI Smith added: "Mr Adusah was arrested and charged in Ghana and spent a number of months on remand there and on bail and they found no direct evidence linking him to the death of the deceased.

"In Britain we would call that insufficient evidence, I believe that it the correct decision."

The findings of an autopsy into her death were carried out in Ghana but have not seen the light of day.

Initially it went missing from the morgue of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra for several weeks, which delayed the Ghanaian court case against her husband.

The report was later found.

Her mother who has never seen the full autopsy report from Ghana hopes to finally learn more about the circumstances behind her daughter's death.

She previously said: "I'm very glad that her body is back in Britain. I even had my doubts that would happen.

"The results of this new autopsy won't be known for a while and I still have no idea when I'll be able to bury her.

"It's been a long, long wait for us to be able to bury Charmain but at least this delay is for a good purpose."

Senior Coroner for Essex Caroline Beasley-Muarry dismissed verdicts of unlawful killing, suicide or an accident due to lack of evidence.

She said: "Because of the insufficient evidence for any of those conclusions I shall record an open verdict.

";We shall never quote know what happened there just is not evidence.

"There is nothing ominous about an open verdict it just means there was insufficient evidence for any of the other conclusions."

Mrs Beasley-Muarry said this was a difficult and unusual case.

Addressing the family she said: "She (Charmain) clearly was a striking woman, attractive and with a bright future in front of her and was clearly much loved and I would again like to express my sympathies to you."

Adusah broke down in tears as he left the inquest, surrounded by his parishioners, he declined to comment.

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