Family Say Police Homophobia Failed Ed Cornes, Found Dead In A London Hotel
ITV News correspondent Sejal Karia has reported on the family of Ed Cornes, a 19-year-old student found dead in a central London hotel in October 2021, and their claim that the Metropolitan Police investigation was shaped by homophobia and avoidable errors.
Cornes had been at University College London for just two days when he died, after starting his first term. His mother, Miriam Blythe, told ITV News she was informed by detectives that her son had been found dead in “a hotel in the centre of town.”
At the inquest, it was heard that Cornes left his halls in the early hours and met Matthew Butler, a man he had not met before, who took him to the hotel. Another man, Ian Casimir, was in the room. Several hours later, Cornes was dead.
The inquest heard Cornes had 36 cuts and other injuries, and “high levels” of GHB, short for gamma-hydroxybutyrate, in his bloodstream. Butler and Casimir were arrested on suspicion of murder and later released without charge, and ITV News said it was unable to reach them for comment.
The family’s complaint in plain terms.
Blythe says she still does not have clear answers about how or why her son died, and says she has “no confidence” in the Met’s handling of the case. She alleges officers focused on her son’s sexuality and drug use, did not interview key witnesses, and allowed evidence to be lost while the death was still being treated as a possible murder.
“They treated us appallingly,” Blythe told ITV News. She also said police “focused in on him being gay and whether he took drugs. His lifestyle and sexuality.”
Cornes was found in a basement room of a King’s Cross hotel, around a five-minute walk from his halls, and other students described him as “very drunk” that evening, according to the ITV report.
One of Blythe’s biggest unresolved concerns is consent. She told ITV News she questioned whether her son was capable of consenting to taking drugs that night, given reports that he was heavily intoxicated.
How does a family get a straight, confident account of what happened when key material is missing?
What the report says was lost.
Blythe claims “vital evidence was lost,” including CCTV and blood samples. She described evidence going missing within days and then, later, items disappearing from a locked evidence room, including everyday objects from the hotel room and a lampshade with a “strange red stain on it.”
She also said a serious case review identified 27 failings, and she believes she has only been formally informed of one. ITV reported her claim that CCTV was among the issues highlighted, including “24 different tapes lost.”
The alleged comments.
Blythe told ITV News that officers made overtly homophobic remarks, including stereotypes about gay men and drug use, and assumptions about what can happen during sex between men. ITV reports the Met has acknowledged an officer made those comments and apologised for the upset caused.
Cornes’ childhood best friend, Sam Price, backs Blythe’s account of the tone from the start. Price told ITV News, “The homophobia was there from the very beginning,” and said interviews kept circling back to Cornes’ “lifestyle” and sexuality.
Why Stephen Port keeps coming up.
Blythe told ITV News the case reminds her of the Stephen Port murders, where missed opportunities and faulty assumptions had deadly consequences for gay men.
That comparison has context. A UK police inspectorate report reviewing lessons from the Port case notes he was convicted in 2016 of four murders, and inquests later raised matters of concern about the Met’s handling.
Where the Met stands now.
The Met says an extensive investigation ruled out third-party involvement, and that conclusion was upheld at an inquest, but it has apologised for aspects of how the case was handled.
In ITV’s reporting, Metropolitan Police Commander Stephen Clayman said it was “difficult to hear” how the handling of the investigation added to the family’s pain, acknowledged standards were not met in some respects, and apologised for any further distress caused.
Blythe and Price want the case reopened by a different police force and a fresh inquest.
