A British coroner said this week that Georgia Brooke, a 26-year-old dance teacher said to have been fatally strangled by her boyfriend, had died from a “reckless sex game gone wrong.”
British authorities said Brooke’s boyfriend, 31-year-old Luke Cannon, took his own life by hanging just after he learned his lover had died in a local hospital—unable to recover from cardiac arrest.
The coroner, Martin Fleming, added Wednesday that drugs may have played a factor in the tragedy, with traces of GHB and cocaine found in both of their bodies after the February 2022 incident, Yorkshire Live reported.
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Cannon reportedly phoned authorities when Brooke went into cardiac arrest and she was whisked away by ambulance. After her death, Yorkshire Live reported that cops opened a probe into Cannon, but found him dead before a probe could begin in earnest.
A court heard text messages between the couple that reportedly showed the choking was consensual.
Fleming told the court that Georgia was “unlawfully killed,” suggesting Cannon likely would have faced criminal charges if he was still alive.
Fleming said the couple’s sexual practices were both “dangerous and reckless,” both for the drug use and excessive force Cannon used to strangle his partner, Yorkshire Live reported.
While he grilled the actions of the couple, Fleming reportedly added that there was no evidence that suggested Cannon meant to harm his partner. The BBC added that a local police detective recalled in court that Cannon was “extremely remorseful and beside himself” while at the hospital, and that he was seen on CCTV footage “crying, pacing around and in a generally distressed state.”
After learning Brooke’s fate, police said that Cannon tried to contact her mother but failed. He then drove to a wooded area and died by suicide, the BBC reported, with a stranger finding his body the following morning in West Yorkshire.
Loved ones for Brooke told Yorkshire Live that life had been “horrific” since Brooke’s passing, but that they’d accepted the findings by authorities that deemed her killing was likely accidental in nature.
Cannon’s parents spoke in court, saying their son worked as a model, TV extra, and personal trainer. His mom described him as a “wonderful man who lit up the room.”
Fleming said he hopes Brooke’s death acts as a warning to couples that what they do in the bedroom can have fatal consequences.
“This type of sex act is dangerous and reckless and it all too often ends in fatal consequences,” he said.
If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing or texting 988.
