Inquest into death of Natalie Hemming discontinued by Milton Keynes coroner

A coroner noted that Natalie Hemming, 31, was killed by her jealous partner Paul Hemming who was sentenced to life behind bars last year.

His murder trial at Luton Crown Court last year heard he beat Natalie to death in her lounge before wrapping her body in carpet and dumping it in woodland.

Senior Coroner for Milton Keynes Thomas Osborne said no further details of her death could be established by an inquest.

Coroner’s Officer Mel Riley said the records of Natalie’s date of death were amended from the date her body was found on May 22 in Toms Hill, Chandlers Cross, to when the trial heard she was killed between April 30 and May 5.

Natalie was murdered by Hemming after he spent ten years bullying and controlling her.

But when she finally found the courage to walk away from him, he bludgeoned her to death in a fit of rage.

Speaking last month, her sister Joanne Beverley, 39, said: “She had it all planned. She was going to move into her own place with the children and was excited about starting a new life.

“I’m really going to do it this time,” she told us.

“None of us liked the way he treated Natalie and we all thought she’d be better without him.”

During the trial, a jury heard how Natalie was reported as missing after visiting her mother in Hemel Hempstead in May last year.

But she was in fact dead after Hemming beat her to death at their home in Milton Keynes, while their children slept upstairs.

He then wrapped her body in a large red rug from the couple’s lounge floor and drove her naked body 30 miles away where he dumped her face down in undergrowth.

Chillingly, Hemming then returned home and even took their children out on a trip to the zoo while lying to police about her whereabouts.

Natalie’s body lay undiscovered for almost a month before she was found near Chandler’s Cross May 22 last year.

Joanne said: “As soon as I got the call from mum saying Natalie had gone missing, I knew she was dead. And I knew Paul had killed her.

“I just got this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. We’re a large and very close family and Paul didn’t really mix with us.

“He always sat apart and stayed quiet at family gatherings. He even refused to go to his own children’s baptisms.”

Joanne told how the family was happy for her when she moved to Milton Keynes after getting a job at Mercedes dealership.

But her possessive partner didn’t want her to work and said “I’ll pay you to stay at home.”

Evil Hemming kept promising to marry Natalie - then called the wedding off three times, say her family.

The young mum even bought her wedding dress and told her friends she was getting married. Eventually she changed her name to Hemming as a compromise.

But in 2013 she realised her mistake and fled to Yorkshire to live near her sister in a rented house with her three children - one of whom was from a previous relationship.

“It was so lovely, and we were all so happy,” said Joanne. “We thought she’d finally made the break.

“But four months later Hemming wormed his way back into her feelings and she moved back to Milton Keynes to live with him. We were all devastated.”

Joanne is bringing up two of Natalie’s children, two girls aged 12 and four, alongside her own four children in Yorkshire.

The third child, a seven-year-old boy, is being cared for by Natalie’s other sister Kerry.

But Natalie’s mother, 73-year-old Margaret Hammond still sobs daily for her youngster daughter, who she calls her “baby”.

Joanne added: “We’re doing okay. We all support each other and everybody is there for everybody else.

“We’re that kind of family.

“If telling her story can help other woman walk away from an abusive relationship then we will know that my sister did not die in vain.”

Hemming is now behind bars, sentenced to life after being ordered to serve a minimum of 20 years.