THE two people found dead in a swimming pool at the Down Hall Country House Hotel in Hatfield Heath were in a relationship, it has been claimed.
Komba Kpakiwa, 31 from Erith in Kent and 22-year-old Josephine Newalun Foday, from south London, were found by hotel staff on Saturday.
Paramedics were called to the Matching Road estate at around 7.35pm following reports that a man and a woman were under water in the hotel's indoor swimming pool.
Despite attempts by staff and ambulance crews to save them they were pronounced dead at the scene.
Eleanor McGann, deputy coroner for Essex, opened and adjourned an inquest in a brief hearing held at New Bridge House in Chelmsford.
The inquest heard the pair had been at the hotel together to celebrate Miss Foday's 22nd birthday and were both out during the day.
On their return to the hotel both went into the pool area - witnesses, including other guests, had seen the couple alive and in swimming gear 15 minutes before they were found face down in the water.
Miss Foday was a second year nursing student at Canterbury Christ Church University and had fled to England from Sierra Leone with her grandmother in 2001.
Her grandmother Theresa Farma, 61 said: "We don't know where her parents are, we think they are dead. I grabbed the child and left. I am so sad, now my granddaughter has been taken away too."
Speaking from her home in Plumstead, Mrs Farma, added: "She called me on Friday to say that she had arrived at the hotel.
"They were looking forward to spending time at the hotel. They were supposed to come back on Sunday but instead the police came. Everyone is upset, distraught. I can't believe she has gone."
It is suspected Mr Kpakiwa, who it is believed is married with two children, met Miss Foday in the Co-op where he was working as a supervisor to put himself through law school.
Debra Teasdale, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Care, said: "We were very saddened to hear about Josephine's tragic death at the weekend and our thoughts and sympathies are with Josephine's family and friends at this sad time."
Officers from the Essex and Kent Serious Crime Directorate have been investigating, but police stress that with no evidence of foul-play, at this stage they do not want to speak to anyone in connection with the incident. A provisional post-mortem examination found that their deaths were "consistent with drowning" and that further tests would need to be carried out.
The venue is well-known for hosting weddings and conferences, with some of the four-star Italianate mansion date back to 1322.
The late reality TV star Jade Goody married there in 2009.
Some guests mistakenly thought police were part of a murder mystery weekend at the hotel.
Chris Falcus, manager of Down Hall Hotel, said: "We wish to reiterate our condolences to the friends and families of the lady and gentleman concerned. Both myself and the team at the hotel are deeply upset by what has happened.
"The results of the post mortem examination have concluded that the deaths of the two people were consistent with drowning, which puts an end to inappropriate speculation about our facilities."
He was responding to national reports that police were allegedly looking into the possibility that the pair was poisoned by fumes.
