Mysterious Southsea death: Questions still surrounds death of amateur actress who fell from drug dealer's block of flats

Amateur actress Lorraine Bream, 40, was found on a rooftop at the back of Palmerston Mansions, overlooking Tonbridge Street – the road that runs parallel to shopping precinct Palmerston Road.

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Her death sparked a murder probe with a 53-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder after she was found in the morning of Monday September 16, 2019. Police arrested a Southsea drug dealer on suspicion of murder but later decided the death was not suspicious.

The death caused shock and sadness in the community with tributes paid to popular Ms Bream at the scene. Friends and colleagues referred to her as a ‘beautiful soul’ with a ‘bright smile and laugh’ who ‘did not deserve such a cruel ending’.

An inquest at Portsmouth Coroner’s Court in 2020 failed to provide answers to questions with an open conclusion recorded by coroner Chris Wilkinson. He said he was not sure whether Ms Bream ‘slipped or otherwise lost her balance’.

Ms Bream, of Marmion Road in Southsea, visited the address at Palmerston Mansions to buy cocaine, the inquest was told. A witness, Hibak Malik, said she saw her ‘laughing hysterically’ while sitting on a balcony above a low-level roof with her legs dangling over the side.

Ms Malik said: ‘She was leaning over the edge and looked very close to falling.’

The sighting around 8pm on Sunday September 15 was the last time Ms Bream was seen alive before her body was found the following morning. She had no cocaine in her possession or in her system, but was more than three times over the drink-drive limit for alcohol, the hearing was told.

A pathologist said her neck wounds were ‘not typical fall-type injuries’. He concluded Ms Bream died from chest injuries consistent with a fall from height.

Ms Bream's sister Heidi Wallen told the inquest she believed her sister was pushed off the wall. But the police probe was unable to prove any foul play before they decided to conclude their investigation.

Suicide was dismissed as an explanation by the coroner who revealed there were ‘questions as to how the fall came about’, before adding: ‘Nobody saw or heard an altercation that evening but that doesn't mean that that didn't occur.’

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