AN inquest into the brutal killing of a woman at a Bournemouth hotel is set to last six weeks, but won’t begin until next year, a court has heard.

The inquest into the killing of Travelodge employee Marta Elena Vento by Stephen Richard Cole was resumed at a pre-inquest review on Tuesday, January 9.

Spanish national Ms Vento, 27, was found dead at her place of work at the hotel in Christchurch Road, Bournemouth in December 2020.

She was repeatedly hit by Cole in a 42-minute unprovoked attack.

Her killer is a paranoid schizophrenic, and he was given a hospital order with no time limit after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Ms Vento.

Bournemouth Echo:

At the hearing at Bournemouth Civic Centre, senior coroner for Dorset, Rachael Griffin, said further statements are needed to be submitted in the ‘complex’ case before the final hearing can begin.

The full inquest has been scheduled to begin on Monday, January 20, 2025, and is scheduled to conclude on Friday, February 28.

A further pre-inquest review will be held on Friday, September 6 this year to determine if a jury is required and which witnesses will be called.

It will also assess whether Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights, the right to life, is engaged.

If so, this would require the inquest to examine 'by what means and in what circumstances' Ms Vento came by her death.

Additional hearings will be held on December 6 and January 17, 2025, to deal with any further issues arising before the inquest begins.

Ms Vento’s family appeared at the hearing via video link from Spain with an interpreter, along with representatives from several agencies.

Ms Griffin praised her office for their efforts in the inquest to date, saying it had been ‘immensely challenging’.

She said the office had received a considerable amount of documentation related to the case, including a pack of more than 12,000 pages from Dorset Police in December.

Two weeks in July have been allocated by the coroner to process all documents into a final bundle for release to interested parties ahead of the inquest.

Ms Griffin adjourned the hearing until September, and apologised to Marta’s family for the further delay, saying: “My thoughts are very much with you all for the coming months.”