Young woman killed in suspected murder-suicide was stabbed to death in the neck

Grace Spinks was found lying in a pool of blood by two passersby on the morning of 18 June. (Reach)
Grace Spinks was found lying in a pool of blood by two passersby on the morning of 18 June. (Reach)

A keen horse rider and model was left to die in a farm after being stabbed in the neck as she tended to her horse, an inquest has heard.

Gracie Spinks, 23, was found lying in a pool of blood by two passersby on the morning of 18 June and died a short time later.

Ms Spinks was last seen alive by her mum earlier that day before she set off to Blue Lodge farm five miles from her home in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, where she kept her horse Paddy.

A post-mortem the following day found the cause of death to be a stab wound through the neck.

Chesterfield Coroners Court was told that results showed no evidence of any sexual assault, while one of the witnesses saw a man running away from the scene.

One of the witnesses believed Ms Spinks had been kicked by a horse and carried out CPR as she was unresponsive.

Gracie Spinks died from a stab wound through the neck. (GoFundMe)
Gracie Spinks died from a stab wound through the neck. (GoFundMe) (GoFundMe)

When East Midlands Ambulance arrived at the scene, they attempted to revive her but she was pronounced dead at around 8.30am.

She was a lifeguard but was working as a warehouse operative at the time of death, the court was told.

Friends of Ms Spinks have previously said she was being stalked by former colleague Michael Sellers, 35, who was found dead shortly afterwards.

In a separate inquest opening into his death today, the court heard police officers found his vehicle parked near the farm.

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His body was found in an area of the farm surrounded by trees by local residents at around 11am.

A post-mortem concluded Sellers had suffocated and died from “self-inflicted actions”.

A bag containing knives, an axe, Viagra and a note that read "Don't lie!" was found in a lane near the scene of the killing last month.

Derbyshire Police said it had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct following the incident.

A spokesman for the force said: "There has been a lot of speculation in the community in recent days as to what happened that day and we are working to find answers for everyone involved.

An inquest into Gracie Spinks' death was held at Chesterfield Coroners Court. (Google)
An inquest into Gracie Spinks's death was held at Chesterfield Coroners Court. (Google) (Google)

"We can confirm that the force has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct because we had contact with Gracie earlier this year.

"We are not able to release any further information about the case, but we can confirm there was no criminal restraining order in place.

"We can also confirm that a member of the public found a bag containing weapons in Duckmanton in May and handed this in to police."

A GoFundMe page set up for Ms Spinks’s family has raised over £12,500.

Chesterfield Coroners Court confirmed that assistant coroner Matthew Kewley has asked for an update from the police regarding how their investigation is progressing by 29 October.

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