An inquest in Pontypridd, Wales, heard well-known married drag artist Darren Meah-Moore had attended a nightclub before their body was found dumped in a car park

Drag queen Darren Meah-Moore was found dead after a night out(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

An inquest into the death of a drag queen whose body was found under a pile of cardboard boxes was shown footage of the last moments of their life.

Darren Meah-Moore, 39, a drag queen who had featured on RuPaul’s Drag Race and registered sex offender, was found dead in a lane in the centre of Cardiff. Meah-Moore – who performed under the names Crystal Couture and CC Quinn – had last been seen decked out in full drag, with a full face of makeup and blonde wig, leaving the Pulse nightclub in the heart of the Welsh city.

An inquest has heard the married drag queen had sexual encounters with other men that night before meeting a man with a dog in the early hours of the morning in the street – and proceeded to have sex with both.

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Meah-Moore went missing while dressed in full drag(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

CCTV from the night in question showed Meah-Moore engaging with two men on the night and reappearing on camera multiple times during the encounters. He fails to appear after a third encounter with a man, who later told the court his dog was involved in a sexual encounter with the drag queen.

The man, whose identity has been kept under wraps by court reporting restrictions, said he went to a secluded car park with Meah-Moore and began to have sexual activity with him.

During their encounter in January 2023, he added, he said he had tried to “shoo” the animal away but claimed Meah-Moore told him not to. He said: “Who would think somebody wants to have sex with a dog but apparently he did. I was told to leave him be.”

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Pathologists are investigating whether Meah-Moore died from exposure to dog semen(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

“Because it was consensual and desired I let him do what he was asked to do. I had never seen something like that before. I could have stopped it and I should have stopped it but I didn’t.”

A tribute from Darren’s family said: “Darren Moore was a loving husband, son, brother, uncle and friend. He was always the life and soul where ever he went, he was our social butterfly. He made sure he had a lot of time for people, and never judged others.

“Darren’s husband and family want to thank everyone for their support but now need time to grieve and respectfully request privacy at this time.” Meah-Moore was jailed in March 1999 after being convicted of four counts of rape of a boy under 16. In 2011, he was also sentenced to a three-year community order and given 300 hours of unpaid work for breaching of a sex offender’s order.

The Pontypridd inquest, due to last four days, continues.

The owner said he “lost interest” when Meah-Moore continued to allow the dog to have sex with him. After the encounter, he said Meah-Moore fell asleep and could not be roused. The inquest was told tests found “human and non-human” semen inside Meah-Moore’s body and DNA matched the man’s dog. The hearing was told pathologists ultimately found the death was not “traumatic”.

Tests have since been carried out to see if Meah-Moore was allergic to dogs, with Coroner David Regan saying a pathologist had theorised the drag queen’s sudden death may have arisen “from the dog semen”.

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Meah-Moore was found dead under a pile of cardboard boxes(Image: Media Wales)

He said: “The pathologist made a suggestion that there might be some pathological relation with sudden death potentially arising from the dog semen?” Detective Superintendent Paul Raikes replied: “I think it is accepted Darren did have a sensitivity to dogs but it wasn’t able to provide a cause of death and attribute it to that.”

The court heard the original medical cause of death was given as 1a: sudden death in a man with bronchial asthma who had consumed alcohol and in a temporal association with sexual activity including anal intercourse.

The dog’s owner was later arrested on suspicion of manslaughter but later released without charge. Meah-Moore was reported missing by his husband the following morning – and a worker at the club said she saw him enter a nearby car park.

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Meah-Moore was described as a talented gymnast and business owner(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

Nightclub manager Sean Rogers learned of his disappearance and went to check the car park and could see part of his dress from the previous night. Mr Rogers said when he got out of his car he found Meah-Moore’s body covered with flattened out cardboard boxes which had “definitely been placed on top of him”.

He said the boxes were “covering a large part of his body.” Mr Rogers said he tried to rouse his friend but when he got no response ran back to his car to phone the emergency services.

He performed CPR until paramedics took over but Meah-Moore was pronounced dead at the scene. The inquest heard tributes from Meah-Moore’s father and husband who described him as “caring” and “right at the heart of Cardiff’s gay community”. He was also described as talented gymnast, who ran a jewellery company called Bling Bling Bling UK.

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Meah-Moore was reported missing by his husband after he disappeared in 2023(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

An earlier inquest heard the cause of death was pending a decision by the pathologist. At the time of his death, a spokeswoman for South Wales Police, said: “Darren was last seen at around 5am dressed in drag and was wearing full face make-up, a luminous green dress, a blonde wig, diamante heels and a matching clutch bag.”