Tasmin Paterson, 31, and her son Hudson Paterson, nine, were found dead at a property in the Fletchersbridge area of Bodmin, Cornwall, in September 2024
A mother took her son’s life before ending her own, an inquest has heard.
Tasmin Paterson, 31, and her nine year old son Hudson Paterson were discovered dead at a property in the Fletchersbridge area of Bodmin, Cornwall, in September 2024.
At an inquest into their deaths on Monday, it emerged that the relationship between Ms Paterson and her partner Marcus Hughes had broken down before he found mother and son dead in a bedroom at their shared home.
Cornwall Coroner’s Court heard that Ms Paterson, who had previously separated from Hudson’s father in an “amicable” split, had been living at the Bodmin property with Mr Hughes.
Mr Hughes told the inquest that the relationship had become “fraught” and grew particularly strained after Ms Paterson discovered he had been using a dating site.
He said: “We’d not broken up necessarily but we were on the verges, I felt.
“She believed it was to do with her ongoing health issues, but there were more things going on than that.”
Mr Hughes also revealed that Ms Paterson had experienced significant health difficulties following a head injury that left her with mobility problems, while the couple were also struggling with financial and housing pressures.
Senior coroner Andrew Cox said: “Mr Hughes was Tasmin’s partner at the time of her death and he accepted that, while their relationship had been good and healthy and strong at the outset, that more recently it had run into difficulties.
“There had been arguments, never anything physical and never involving Hudson, but I think it’s fair to say… that relationship was coming to an end.
“Mr Hughes accepted that Tasmin had caught him on a dating site.
“From Tasmin’s perspective, the relationship had not worked out how she had hoped, with all the disappointment and regret that comes with that.”
The hearing was told Hudson was “poorly” the night before his death, prompting his mother to say she would sleep in the same room as him, an arrangement that wasn’t considered “unusual”.
Mr Hughes stated he had no worries until the next morning, when neither appeared to have stirred.
He knocked and called out their names from outside the locked bedroom door, growing progressively more concerned when there was no reply.
After ringing the police, he forced entry and found Ms Paterson and Hudson’s bodies within.
During the inquest, Ms Paterson was characterised as a “doting” mother, with relatives stating they’d never had any cause to believe she would harm her son.
Aaron Paterson, her former husband and Hudson’s father, described their separation as “amicable” and said Hudson had been “everything” to his mother.
“She loved him with all of her heart and Hudson was her everything.
“She never hurt him, never raised a hand to him, never screamed in his ear or anything along those lines.
“I never had reason to be cautious or suspicious.”
A police investigation “very quickly recognised” Mr Hughes had played no part in either death, the coroner stated.
Mr Cox remarked: “The evidence of the police is that it is more likely than not that Hudson has died because he has been asphyxiated by Tasmin.
“That is a shocking turn of events, it is difficult to comprehend but I accept that evidence and as a matter of fact I find that is what has happened.
“It is far more likely than not that Tasmin has taken her own life and intended to do so.”
He determined Ms Paterson’s death was the result of suicide, while Hudson’s death was ruled an unlawful killing.
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