Martial arts-trained Leah Croucher may have tried to defend herself from a sex attack before she was killed, an inquest has heard.

The 19-year-old – a black belt in martial arts – disappeared while walking to work on 15 February 2019.

Her remains were not found until October 2022 in Furzton, Milton Keynes, in the loft of a house left empty during the COVID pandemic, following a tip-off from a maintenance worker.

Detective Superintendent Kevin Brown told an inquest at Milton Keynes Coroner’s Court on Wednesday that he believed “absolutely” that she was killed by sex offender Neil Maxwell.

Maxwell took his own life in April 2019, two months after Ms Croucher vanished.

He had been convicted of sexual assault in February 2018 and was wanted for a sex attack in Newport Pagnell the following November.

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To avoid arrest, he used false names and stopped using his phone and car. He was a handyman and the only person with keys to the property where Ms Croucher’s body was found.

In “normal circumstances” – had Maxwell been alive – Thames Valley Police would have approached the Crown Prosecution Service for their “advice around charging”, Mr Brown told the inquest.

He added that his “professional experience and knowledge would suggest Leah would have died very close to the day she went missing, if not on it”.

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Caroline Haughey KC, representing Ms Croucher’s family, asked him if he believed it was “likely to be a sexual attack and in fact because of her martial arts ability, she reacted and subsequently died”.

Mr Brown replied: “I believe she would have defended herself [and] that may have escalated the situation.”

Ms Croucher, whose remains were found more than three-and-a-half years after she went missing, was identified by her dental records.

Senior coroner Tom Osborne said that “whoever placed the body in the loft had taken steps to remove certain limbs and place them in plastic bags”.

A post-mortem examination was inconclusive and her cause of death was unascertained.

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Maxwell was assessed as medium risk after his conviction for sexual assault in February 2018, the inquest heard.

Subsequently, however, it was decided he should have been assessed as high risk.

He failed to attend a number of probation appointments in 2018 following his conviction, the inquest heard.

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