Missing woman, 28, drowned after driving her Mini into icy lake more than 200 miles from her London home a year after she was ‘raped by a work colleague’, inquest hears

A missing woman drowned after driving her Mini into an icy lake 200 miles from her home in London a year after she was allegedly raped by a work colleague, an inquest has heard.

Hannah Warren, 28, freed herself from the submerged car and swam to nearby rocks before tragically falling back into the freezing water near a Tata Steel site in Port Talbot.

Her body was found more than 100m from where the Mini convertible hit the lake on February 4, 2016 – a day she was first reported missing from her home in Streatham, south-west London.

At an inquest yesterday, Ms Warren’s mother Jane Barnes said her daughter died almost a year to the day after she had been allegedly attacked by a work colleague. The hearing was told that she had confided in her brother about the alleged incident and was having counselling.

Ms Warren vanished in her car at around 6am on February 3, 2016 and later texted her boss to tell him that she intended to resign from her job at an office design company in London, the inquest heard.

She drove 200 miles to Port Talbot before crashing into the water from a quayside road that had no safety barriers.

Her face and body were covered in bruises and grazes including on her neck, Home Office pathologist Dr Ryk James said. The expert suggested this may have been caused by the car’s seatbelt.

He told the inquest that he believed that Ms Warren died as a result of drowning.

The pathologist also said that there were ‘low’ levels of cocaine and cannabis in her system, while the hearing was told that she was in a ‘distorted’ state of mind at the time of her death.

Ms Barnes also told how Ms Warren had worked hard to land a key role at an office refurbishment company in London.

The inquest continues.

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