A man was arrested on suspicion of murder after he tried to save a woman who was tragically crushed under a wardrobe.
Chloe Haynes, 21, was found dead in her room at the Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool, by her friend during the early hours of September 10. It is understood that she had been staying there with a work friend after travelling from Pwllheli, Wales, for a night out.
Following the discovery of her body, her friend and two other hotel guests were arrested on suspicion of murder by Merseyside Police. However, they were later released without any further actions, with police now treating the death as "accidental" and said "there were no suspicious circumstances".
Among those arrested was Wayne Kenny, 46, who said he heard a "commotion near his door" on the morning of the incident. Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, he said: "I was staying at the Adelphi and I got up in the morning and at first I heard the commotion outside the door and heard some guy say 'she's not breathing' and I thought 'did I hear that right then?'.
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"So I got dressed and that as I was going to go out with my boys. I had a day out planned for me and the two boys. I came out of the room and as I walked past the door was open." Wayne recalled that a man was attempting to give Chloe CPR, however, he felt that he was better suited to help and asked: "Can you please let me try?"
"I have had some experience, but not fully medically trained obviously." He added. "I went in and I tried to give Chloe CPR. I think what I am struggling with is the fact I have done that now knowing she had been dead for hours. I had no idea."
Chloe's mum, Nicola Williams, said Chloe was drunk by midnight so her friend escorted her back to the hotel room to sleep it off before going back out. However, at some point during the early morning, Chloe is believed to have opened the door of the wardrobe, causing the extremely heavy object to fall onto her.
The friend soon returned to the room and discovered Chloe under the wardrobe. She quickly rushed out of the room to scream for help.
Wayne added that he continued to give Chloe CPR under the guidance of a 999 operator until paramedics came. He said he was thanked by the emergency service officers on the scene before being asked to return to his room where police soon came knocking.
"I went back to my room and I started to get ready. I got in touch with the boys to go out for the day," Wayne said. "The police knocked and said 'you are the guy that was in the room a minute ago?' I said yes, absolutely and he said 'right you're under arrest' and I said for what? And he said 'for murder.'
"I said 'are you serious?' and he said 'yes, absolutely'." Wayne was taken into custody where he had his clothes taken off him before being provided with a paper suit in a "freezing" cell and "interrogated".
Wayne said: "I feel bad talking about what I went through because I haven't lost my life. But yeah, they took nail clippings, I had hardly any nails as I was just biting away at them but they were adamant in getting them. They took a bit of my hair and swabs, fingerprints."
Wayne continued: ""He said to me 'you committed the murder didn't you?' and I said 'I have come in accused of it'."
He added: "As you can imagine, when he had left, I was thinking could I get accused for something I haven't done, could they make a mistake? To be thinking that for 10 hours was hard work.
"I think, because what he had also done by talking about it in the hallway, there were other people in custody and they were shouting 'wait till you get to prison'."
While also being let go from agency work, Wayne says that he doesn't regret doing everything he could to help Chloe. He said: "I keep seeing her face a lot. In my dreams she comes alive and I get her back and she comes back. I keep having the same dream."
Chloe's mum, Nicola, said: "When the police came [the men] had to be taken away for questioning. It did sting when we read they had been arrested, they had tried to help her."
A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said: “In the first 24 hours of an investigation it is essential all evidence is gathered. In this investigation the circumstances were not clear so we had to be guided by golden hour principles which includes the immediate collection of evidence to ascertain what has taken place.
“As soon as it became apparent that there were no suspicious circumstances the three men were all released without further action taken. At this moment in time we have not received a complaint and as such it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”
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