Canberra: In a very heart-wrenching story, the sobbing mum of a British dancer found dead in an Australian strip club has slammed the two men who ‘watched her die’. Stacey Tierney’s lifeless body was discovered in the Dreams Gentlemen’s Club in Melbourne a few days before Christmas in 2016.
Tests showed a fatal cocktail of booze, cocaine, heroin and ecstasy in her system. Today, an inquest heard the truth about how the 29-year-old, from Withington, Manchester, met her death will never be fully known.
Despite a police investigation, two men who were “partying” with her in the hours before her death have never been charged. This is despite phone records showing they knew she was unwell.
Neither called the emergency services when she became ill inside the manager’s office, and a “clean up” was carried out before cops arrived at the scene. However, both men – who were found with her body – have avoided prosecution.
With no CCTV footage, it will never be known what went on in that room and if the fitness coach took the drugs willingly or if her drinks were spiked. Relatives of the young woman claimed club staff members Joseph Berhe and Thomas Mesfun’s lack of a call for help was “inhumane”.
Ms Tierney’s mother Michelle Frost wept as she told Stockport Coroner’s Court: “I feel there’s been an injustice, but I don’t think I’ll ever, ever, find out the truth.” The inquest was told Ms Tierney, was found dead in Melbourne city centre club on December 19, 2016 – two days after she turned up for work.
The court heard she arrived for work at 8pm on December 17 and she finished her shift just after 3am the next morning. There was a “culture” at the club for some staff to enjoy a party after customers left.
At 3.41am she was captured on CCTV inside the club entering the manager’s office. She was never seen alive again. Five others joined the after hours party, but three left shortly after, it was said.
What went on between the three people in that room remains a mystery. However, phone records show the dancer was unwell for several hours but neither of the men with her called for help, the hearing was told.
Her body wasn’t found just before noon on December 19 when the manager arrived to open up – more than 40 hours after she arrived at the strip joint which was not open on Sundays.
Detective Sergeant Estelle Mathieson told the hearing texts were sent by the men to other members of staff in the early hours of the Monday morning. One at 12.30 am said: “This chick’s passed out, I can’t leave her. She’s scaring me.”
Five hours later another text said: “I don’t know what to do anymore”. It wasn’t until 11.43am when owner Steve Kyriacou arrived for work and found the two men with Ms Tierney’s body that he made the call for help.
Paramedics arrived at the venue, but the young woman was pronounced dead. Although a post-mortem could not establish when Ms Tierney died, estimates put it at around 5.30am – the time of the second text.
The court heard she had been living in Australia for three years, but trained as a dancer and a fitness coach back home in Manchester and dreamed of becoming a nurse. Mrs Frost told the court her daughter moved Down Under with her boyfriend in 2014, but their relationship ran into trouble.
She last saw her in October 2015 when she came back to the UK for a family funeral, then returned to Australia to go travelling, but she had no idea she was working in a strip club.
“I believe her lifestyle changed when she went back to Australia. When she first went there with her boyfriend everything was secure and steady,” she said. “Once they split up I think, I know, that’s when everything changed.
“I thought she was living her life and had made new friends, I know ideally it wasn’t what she wanted.” Fighting back tears, Mrs Frost, who said she did not believe her daughter was into drugs, added: “Stacey was a good person, I miss her.
Mother of British dancer Stacey Tierney slams men for seeing her die in strip club:
“I feel there’s been an injustice somewhere but I don’t think I’ll ever, ever, find out the truth.” In the lead-up to her death, Ms Tierney told an old friend she was loving life in Melbourne.
Her bio on her Facebook page had been updated to: “The happiest time of my life is now.” Members of her family, who were in court, were unaware she was supporting herself in Australia by working in strip clubs.
But the inquest heard she didn’t enjoy the job, although she told friends the money was good and she needed it to fund her studies after being granted a student visa to stay in the country.
A post-mortem carried out in Melbourne by Dr Paul Bedford found traces of alcohol in her system, along with heroin, MDMA and cocaine. He gave the cause of death as multi-drug toxicity which caused her to stop breathing. He said there were no signs the young woman had been assaulted.
Det Sgt Mathieson said there was no evidence to suggest her drinks had been spiked, but because of the clear up carried out before police arrived no one can be sure if Ms Tierney took the drugs willingly or if her drinks were spiked.
“We can’t say for certain that she chose to take these drugs,” she added. Det Sgt Mathieson said despite the efforts of the Australian police to build a case against the two men it was felt there was no chance of them being found guilty of manslaughter through gross negligence.
“The two main suspects in the room claimed they were intoxicated through drink and drugs and fell asleep, but further inquiries showed that is not the case,” she said. “But from 3.41am on the Sunday until 11.46 we can not know what happened in that room.
“Police thought she may have died around 5.30am on the Monday morning, we know just shortly after that one of the men sent a message expressing concern for Stacey and saying he did not know what to do.
“Sadly they did not take any steps to assist her.” And she said despite some questions over the way the death was handled she believed police would have reached the same conclusion had the death happened in the UK.
That led Ms Tierney’s mother to criticise the Australian authorities for allegedly failing to give them answers to a string of unanswered questions. “The one thing we can say is that these men didn’t bother to help he, the big question is why. Why would you watch someone die?” said Mrs Frost.
“They’ve got reasons, but what are those reasons, that’s why I feel something stinks about this.” Another relative said: “What they did was inhumane.” Ms Tierney’s stepfather David Frost then asked why police never traced a boy who was caught on CCTV leaving the club carrying a bag just before police arrived.
Det Supt Mathieson said: “If we were investigating this we would have tracked that boy down and found out what that package was. “Sadly we don’t know what was in the bag.”
Giving an open conclusion South Manchester’s Senior Coroner Alison Mutch said that many questions about Ms Tierney’s death remained unanswered. She said that it was unfortunate there was no CCTV in the manager’s office and the conflicting evidence and timings given by those who went into the room had done little to help.
“What is clear is that there is a large period of time when it’s difficult to know what happened,” the coroner said. “What we do know from a text message is that around 12.30am on the Monday morning suggesting Stacey was probably quite unwell and had passed out.
“It also not possible to say with clarity how she came to ingest these drugs, whether she chose to ingest them or whether she was given them in a drink not knowing how much she had consumed.
“Australian police have reached the view that there can be no prosecution for any criminal offences and no case can be brought here in the UK.” Summing up she added: “The precise circumstances surrounding the death are unclear. In view of that the only conclusion I can come to is to reach an open conclusion.”
