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The Metropolitan Police informed the BBC that their decision not to pursue a criminal investigation was based on the absence of any formal allegation of wrongdoing. Rebekah’s family, speaking out publicly for the first time, has expressed to Panorama their belief that the police failed her. The precise cause of Rebekah’s death remains unclear, with a UK coroner recording an open verdict.
Hotel staff present on the night of Rebekah’s collapse in June 2024 have been interviewed as part of the investigation. Their accounts, along with police sources and the inconsistent statements made by Arter after Rebekah’s death, highlight several troubling points. Arter reportedly gave varying explanations: at times saying Rebekah had choked, fallen and hit her head, or that he had simply woken to find her dead. Crucially, evidence was not properly collected, key forensic tests were not performed, and Rebekah’s organs were inexplicably “chopped up” by a Barbadian pathologist in a way that destroyed vital proof.
Despite these concerns, four days after Rebekah’s death, a senior officer from the Met’s Gold Command was briefed on the incident, taking into account Arter’s alleged past offenses. However, this did not lead to a policing presence on the Caribbean island. Arter, aged 54, died by suicide in HMP Wandsworth shortly after his return to the UK and subsequent arrest over allegations of abusing another woman.
Rebekah had been trying to leave an abusive relationship when Arter, who had initially investigated her in 2006 as a detective, began a personal relationship with her and soon moved in together. He rose to become head of a rape investigation unit in south-east London three years later but was later suspended and investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct over his conduct toward eight women. Despite these investigations, he was never convicted. While suspended for seven years, Arter continued to draw his full detective inspector salary until he was dismissed in 2023 for drug offenses. Throughout this period, he subjected Rebekah to sexual and domestic abuse, coercive control, and drugging, evidenced by videos obtained by the BBC.
Several hotel employees who worked at the luxury O2 Beach Club in Barbados on the night of Rebekah’s death described Arter’s behavior as suspicious. Two staff members who entered Arter’s hotel room shortly after receiving his call that his wife was unwell confirmed that Rebekah was clearly deceased. One security guard named Andrew recounted having to stop Arter from leaving the scene to attend a nearby street party just before emergency services arrived. Andrew described Arter’s conflicting stories about what had happened, noting bloodstains around the apartment but no visible head injury on Rebekah’s body. Other staff corroborated concerns about Arter’s controlling behavior and Rebekah’s frequent intoxication, with one suspecting that Arter was drugging her. Panorama reviewed footage taken by Arter on his phone showing Rebekah clearly under the influence, wearing the same clothing seen in images after her death.
Back in the UK, Rebekah’s son Elliot and his wife Lacey grew increasingly alarmed after visiting her home with Arter. They found drugs and hidden CCTV cameras installed by Arter, along with photographs of Rebekah naked, bruised, and engaged in sexual acts, apparently taken without her consent. Reporting their concerns to Bexleyheath Police Station was initially met with dismissal on the grounds that Rebekah’s death occurred abroad. However, the situation escalated when they mentioned Arter’s name, prompting a more urgent response from officers. Despite this, the Met chose not to send investigators to Barbados. Though UK police can assist with overseas deaths, especially when requested by local authorities and families, the Met decided against it, citing the absence of a criminal allegation.
The inquest later revealed serious irregularities with the handling of Rebekah’s body, noting that her organs had been unnecessarily severed into small pieces by the Barbadian pathologist, destroying critical evidence. Essential toxicology and histology tests to detect disease or injury were omitted. Coroner Andrew Harris suggested this might indicate deliberate obstruction of justice and rejected the Barbadian cause of death, aspiration pneumonitis. He instead offered an open verdict, acknowledging intoxication as a factor and stating unlawful killing could not be ruled out. The inquiry did not include examination of Arter’s alleged exploitation of other women.
Barbadian authorities reported no signs of violence on Rebekah’s body and concluded there was no suspicious cause of death, opting not to conduct toxicology tests. Shortly after her death, Arter returned to the UK, was arrested at Heathrow on allegations of sexual offenses against a woman from a 2010 case he handled as a police officer, and was found dead in prison three days later. Metropolitan Police Commander Simon Messinger expressed sympathy for Rebekah’s family and urged all survivors of rape and sexual offenses to come forward, regardless of when the crimes occurred. Elliot Arter reflected on the lasting impact, lamenting that his young children would never have memories of their grandmother and that he would never know exactly how she died
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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