Cause of death still not determined for woman accused of sending abuse to McCanns

Leicester Coroner's Court that police are still waiting for the results of test carried out on the body of Brenda Leyland after a post-mortem examination was carried out yesterday.

The body of Mrs Leyland, 63, was discovered in a Leicester hotel room last Saturday, two days after she featured in a Sky News report exposing internet "trolling" of Kate and Gerry McCann.

Opening the inquest, Leicester Coroner Catherine Mason was told there was no evidence of foul play or third party involvement in the death.

Police Sergeant Kevin Taylor told the coroner he was informed that Mrs Leyland was dead after being sent to the Marriott Hotel in Enderby.

The officer said: "At the scene I was joined by another officer and a county ambulance first responder unit.

"I was then informed by the paramedic and the other officer that there was a deceased female within the room."

Sgt Taylor added that officers were awaiting the results of additional post-mortem tests and were still undertaking inquiries into the death.

Adjourning the inquest until December 18, Mrs Mason said: "It's quite clear from the evidence before me that I am not in a position to conclude (the inquest) today.

"The cause of death is still not known and police inquiries are rightly ongoing.

"Therefore, with the sergeant still tasked to complete the police inquiries and the pathologist still to provide a cause of death, I am adjourning the inquest."

Mrs Leyland, from Burton Overy, Leicestershire, is reported to have posted thousands of messages on Twitter attacking the McCanns, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared in Portugal in 2007.

Officers from Leicestershire Police, who are not treating the death as suspicious, were alerted to the discovery of Ms Leyland's body at 1.42pm on Saturday.

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