The Vivienne lay dead in bath 'for days' after hiding ketamine relapse

Daily Mirror

5 hours ago

An inquest into the death of tragic drag sensation The Vivienne, whose real name was James Lee Williams, has been held today with a verdict of misadventure recorded
RuPaul's Drag Race star The Vivienne was discovered in a 'murky' bathtub by a neighbour after lying dead in the water for a couple of days, an inquest into their death has heard.
The tragic star, whose real name was James Lee Williams, died aged 32 earlier this year, stunning the showbiz world. On January 6, Cheshire Police said officers had been called to an address in Chorlton-by-Backford, near Chester, on the previous day following reports of a sudden death.
The coroner said that, on the balance of probabilities, it is likely that James died on Friday evening and was not found and pronounced dead until the Sunday. Delivering her verdict, she added: 'I am satisfied that James Lee Williams' death was a misadventure. He took ketamine but he did not intend to end his own life.'
Speaking at Cheshire Coroner's Court today, Janine Gobold was alerted when their friends got in touch to ask if she had seen them. Deciding she would use her key to check on the TV favourite, she told the inquest about the devastating find after entering the property with her son.
She said in court: "I went into the kitchen and Ryan went into the living room, we were calling his name and there was no answer. All the lights were on. As we got to the top of the stairs, Ryan went one way and I turned right. James' bedroom is there and there is a door to the ensuite.
"I looked at James' bed which was all ruffled, I initially thought Panda [Mr Williams' dog] had ragged the quilt on the bed. 'And then I walked past James' bed and into the bathroom and saw James in the bath, he just looked like he was sleeping."
'I ran over to them and put my hand under their head to stop their face going into the water. I screamed for Ryan, telling them they needed to call for an ambulance and to get some help. I kept hold of James because I didn't want their face in the water, I kept talking to them. Ryan came in the room and he was saying 'mum, I can't come in.'
'So I gently lay James back to take the call from the 999, she asked me some questions and asked me to try and get the patient out of the bath. I tried to take the weight of his body, I told Ryan to go and get my partner Mike. I said he needed to phone Bobby and that we needed help. Then I just sat with James and made sure their head didn't go under the water.'
The performer was laid to rest at a church in Bodelwyddan in Denbighshire, North Wales - where they are originally from. In March, the family of the drag star confirmed that they had died from a cardiac arrest caused by the effects of taking Ketamine.
DS Thomas Philpotts, who was the senior investigating officer in the case of James' death, describes entering the bathroom. He suspected he had been dead for some time. The officer wanted to establish if there were any suspicious circumstances or any third party involvement. He began a search of the house.
He says while searching James' bedroom there was a small bag that appeared to have previously contained drugs. In the bathroom, James' phone was on the floor next to the bath and there was a bin with several more packets that were suspected to have had drugs in.
He suspects they were used before James had got into the bath, over a period of time. He says: 'Everything I was told led me to believe that James had been in the bath since Friday night.' He says his hypothesis was that it was likely that James had died from a medical episode, possibly brought on by drug use, or had possibly drowned in the bath. He says he was satisfied there were no suspicious circumstances or third party involvement.