Inquest opens 34 years after woman's disappearance

The sister of a woman who went missing 34 years ago called the opening of an inquest into her presumed death a "tremendous milestone".

Patricia Hall, 39, from Pudsey, Leeds, vanished in 1992 and her body has never been found.

Her husband Keith was tried for her murder but was found not guilty in 1994, after an alleged taped confession that he had strangled her was ruled inadmissible by a judge.

On Thursday, an inquest into the mother-of-two's death was opened and adjourned at Wakefield Coroner's Court. Her sister Christine Weatherhead said to "finally get this day is hard to put into words".

Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Patricia was last seen on 25 January 1992 "when family members spent the day in Ripon".

He said there had been no sightings of her since, no "circumstantial evidence" that she was alive and she had made no attempts to "contact any family member or social acquaintances".

"There is reason to suspect that Mrs Hall's abrupt and complete disappearance is a consequence of her having died a violent or unnatural death," he said.

The coroner explained how a fresh application to hold an inquest had been made to him and he had then applied for permission to the deputy chief coroner.

He outlined how two courts had made orders over the last 34 years on the basis that Patricia was dead.

This was a 2001 ruling that granted Keith Hall a divorce, and a 2006 High Court ruling which granted probate to her two sons.

The coroner said that Keith Hall had been contacted about the hearing but had been "unable to make arrangements to attend".

Adjourning the hearing to a date to be fixed, he said the court would be inviting him to provide a statement.

Speaking outside the court, Weatherhead said: "Something untoward has happened to Pat and hopefully this inquest will give us that evidence about what may have happened."

Describing her sister as "a mother to all of us", she said she was always supportive, buoyant, bright and bubbly.

"For 34 years, we have fought the judicial system to have Pat acknowledged not as missing, or just a number on a case file, but as a kind, loving, devoted mother, sister, and daughter who would never have left her sons, Andrew and Graeme, or her family.

"Pat was known for her warmth and generosity, always putting her family first.

"Her absence has left a void that has never been filled."

Keith Hall was charged with murder after he allegedly admitted on tape to an undercover policewoman, with whom he had started a romance, that he had strangled his wife and disposed of her body in an incinerator.

At his 1994 trial, the judge, Mr Justice Waterhouse, ruled that the tape, which was obtained after Keith Hall answered a "lonely hearts" advertisement in a local newspaper, was inadmissible as evidence.

Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Jones, West Yorkshire Police lead for Specialist Crime and Criminal Justice, said a "thorough" cold case review into Patricia's disappearance concluded last year without any new lines of inquiries.

She said: "The case remains unsolved, and we continue to appeal for any new information that may help provide Patricia's family with the answers they deserve."

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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