Grim scene greeted cops at home of dead Leeds health boss

A worried neighbour called officers to the home of Anthony Roberts and Guida Rufino in Idle, Bradford, on the evening of Sunday, January 31, an inquest heard today.

Bradford Coroner’s Court was told the police found 38-year-old Ms Rufino dead under a blood-stained white sheet in the living room.

Mr Roberts, 37, was discovered upstairs in the bath with a self-inflicted stab wound to the leg.

Police believed he had a pulse and attempted to resuscitate him but he was declared dead shortly afterwards.

Det Insp Paul Conroy told the hearing that the involvement of a third party in Ms Rufino’s death had been ruled out.

He said: “At this stage we are still at an early stage of the inquiry but we are not looking for any other party.”

Asked by the coroner, Martin Fleming, if he believed Mr Roberts’ wound was self-inflicted, DI Conroy said: “Yes.”

Mr Fleming asked if anyone else had been involved in causing the injuries that led to Mr Roberts’ death.

DI Conroy replied: “In terms of Mr Roberts there is no third party involvement.”

He also said Mr Roberts and Ms Rufino had been a couple for four or five years, adding: “They had a child together. They had been living at the address since the child was born.”

The hearing was told that the neighbour who dialled 999 had been worried about a possible domestic incident at the property, which is on Cross Road.

The coroner adjourned the inquest until May 31.

Ms Rufino was a director of a Leeds-based occupational health company.

Her business partner, Dr Jacqueline Senior, led tributes after the tragedy, describing her as a “devoted” mother.