Ex-Coronation Street actress Paula Williamson, who married Britain’s most dangerous prisoner Charles Bronson, died after taking cocaine, pills and alcohol, the coroner told an inquest into her death on Wednesday.
Ms Williamson, 38, was discovered at home by her partner lorry driver Peter Jones in Gordon Avenue, Sneyd Green, Stoke-on-Trent on July 29, 2019, area coroner Emma Serrano said.
The actress, who was an animal lover, was described by family in court as a ‘brilliant’ daughter and a ‘lovely girl’, who was just ‘teetering on the edge of getting her life back in order’ when she died.
Stoke-on-Trent Coroner’s Court heard how evidence suggested that Williamson, born Paula Joy Salvador, had no intention to cause her own death.
‘In the lead up to her passing away she wasn’t expressing any suicidal thoughts and there was no behaviour to suggest she wasn’t happy,’ Ms Serrano said.
Concluding that Williamson’s death on July 29, 2019 was drug-related, Ms Serrano added: ‘Paula had been taking substances. She did not realise the consequence of those substances all working together would cause her to pass away.’
Williamson appeared in Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale and Doctors, but was thrust into the spotlight after marrying notorious criminal Charles Bronson in 2017, who is serving a life tern for robbery and kidnap.
As Paula’s next of kin, Bronson joined the hearing via video link, the Stoke Sentinel reported. He had been warned by the coroner in advance of his conduct after making inappropriate comments during the proceedings.
Former Coronation Street actress Paula Joy Salvador, also known as Paula Joy Williamson
The pair had been pen pals before they married at HMP Wakefield, although their relationship had quickly fallen apart, with it being revealed a month before her death that their whirlwind marriage was set to be annulled.
She had suffered with mental health issues and had previously made two suicide attempts in previous years, but had lately found happiness with Mr Jones, who she had described as her ‘angel’, the court heard.
Her mother, Hazel Williamson, told the court that her daughter had started suffering with depression after he acting career did not progress how she had hoped.
She also said that Paula had been writing her autobiography at the start of 2019, but was feeling the pressure of deadlines she had been set.
However, Williamson said that her daughter had been ‘much happier’ after starting a relationship with her new partner Jones.
Mr Jones told the court that his partner had gone out with friends on July 28, 2019, despite feeling unwell, and came home at around 11.15pm.
Upon her return, she went to bed while Mr Jones slept on the sofa. When he went up to their room at 6.40am on July 29, he found her unresponsive.
There were signs she had vomited and close by were two white self-seal bags; one containing cocaine, the other empty but having also had cocaine inside.
A toxicology report found traces of the drug as well as alcohol and other prescription medication in her system.
‘I knew something was wrong. I tried to wake her. I couldn’t wake her up,’ he said while giving evidence.
Nichola Morgan – a friend of Paula’s who was staying with her while visiting from Cardiff – said that he went out with Paula on July 28, but that she was refused entry to a number of bars on account of her being too drunk.
He said: ‘Me and Paula went to Gossip. We were refused entry because the bouncer said Paula was too drunk. We tried Pink but the bouncer refused us for the same reason. I phoned an Uber to take us home.’
Mr Jones said: ‘She was angry with the doorman. She said she wanted to go and stab him. She had a knife in her hand. I calmed her down and said I would go and have a word with him.
‘I went out on my motorbike and drove to Morrisons. When I got back she had calmed down.’
Notorious criminal Charles Bronson is pictured outside the High Court in London in May 2001
Asked by the coroner if Bronson had any questions, he said: ‘First of all, respect for the dignified way Paula’s mum has handled the situation.
‘As far as I am concerned, there should be two scumbags in this courtroom; the person who gave her the drugs, and the other; the geezer in her house, who reported it, and should have been looking after her.’
He added: ‘I’d like to know why the police haven’t investigated the scumbag who’s given her the drugs in the first place.
‘Because if I was on the outside, I would have his name and address within 24 hours.’
The coroner heard evidence that it was unclear when and from whom Ms Williamson had sourced the cocaine, and that on her night out she had spoken of wanting to take some.
Paula Williamson married notorious criminal Charles Bronson. Pictured: A photograph of Ms Williamson, apparently sent to Bronson
Miss Serrano also heard the actress was on prescription medication including sedatives and had traces of a powerful painkiller in her blood.
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The coroner gave Ms Williamson’s cause of death as multiple drug toxicity but ruled out a conclusion of suicide as ‘there was nothing to suggest she wasn’t happy’ at the time of her death.
Miss Serrano said: ‘She was happy and in a text to her partner, she said ‘you’ve given me a reason to live’ and she was forward-planning for a life with him.’
Giving her conclusion, the coroner added: ‘Paula had taken a multitude of different substances , one being cocaine, which worked together, causing her to pass away.
‘She’s taken them not appreciating the effect those would have on her.’
Earlier, the coroner had to step in after Mr Jones had given evidence, when he was referred to as a ‘muppet’ by Bronson.
Miss Serrano then had to repeatedly warn the notorious prisoner about his conduct.
Bronson concluded, telling Mr Jones he held him ‘totally responsible’ adding: ‘I will have a little chat with you later, don’t you worry about that’.
Miss Serrano then intervened saying: ‘This isn’t somewhere where we are apportioning blame, and I will not have anybody making veiled threats to people in court.’
Bronson replied: ‘I never made a threat, I just made a promise – but I’ll take that one on the chin, your honour.’
Getting up to leave the hearing after finishing his evidence, a visibly upset Mr Jones – described by a friend of Miss Williamson as ‘her rock’ – referred to Bronson’s remarks, saying ‘I’ve had all this for 18 months – I’m not taking no more, today is done.’
Paula Joy Salvador, or Paula Joy Williamson, was Bronson’s estranged wife (pictured together)
Following the hearing, Paula’s family paid tribute to a ‘larger than life’ person, with father Clive said: ‘She was a marvellous daughter. She had friends all over the world and she loved animals.’
Brother Darryl Knapper said: ‘She was full of life, full of energy, full of zest. It seems a terrible waste, she was so young in the scheme of things and she seemed to be teetering on the edge of getting her life back together.
‘It is so sad her life ended like this. We will remember and miss her for the rest of our lives.’
Paula, who grew up in Sneyd Green, attended Holden Lane High School before getting a job at Hanley’s Odeon cinema.
She often featured in The Stoke Sentinel news outlet for her work in comedy and as a model before appearing multiple times on Coronation Street between
2008 and 2012, playing a nurse, and in Hollyoaks, as a doctor in 2012.
Paula was then thrown into the spotlight following her 2017 marriage to her pen pal Bronson, who is serving a life term for robbery and kidnap.
The pair tied the knot at HMP Wakefield with just a handful of friends witnessing the vows.
But their relationship quickly fell apart with former bare-knuckle boxer Bronson – who has been behind bars for the last 45 years – making cruel swipes at her weight.
Paula even appeared on ITV1’s Loose Women to give an emotional interview about her failed romance and the problems she had faced in the past.
Just a month before her death, it was revealed their whirlwind marriage was set to be annulled.
Her pink-themed funeral was held at St Saviour’s Church, Smallthorne, on what would have been her 39th birthday.
At the service, her grief-stricken parents, Hazel and Clive Williamson, described their daughter as the ‘joy of their lives’.
The tribute read: ‘She kept us young in spirit. She had a real love of animals and there were always dogs and cats around!
The parents of Paula Williamson attending her inquest at Stoke on Trent Coroners Court
‘She would always step in if she thought someone was taking advantage of us. She had a great talent for the performing arts and during her acting career she was living her dream.’
The family ‘did not approve’ of the marriage to Bronson but when she met Mr Jones a year before her death, Miss Williamson ‘seemed far more happy’, her mother Hazel Williamson told the inquest.
She added: ‘She was set on acting from a young age and maybe because it didn’t materialise the way she wished it, was very upsetting (for her).
‘She was brilliant and a lovely daughter.’
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