Police dismiss cult death reports

Police said the cult reports were unfounded

Police have dismissed reports that a woman who was found dying in a remote bothy in Sutherland belonged to a cult.

Thirty-nine-year-old Cambridge graduate Margaret Davies, from Essex, was found by two shepherds in the Cape Wrath shelter suffering from hypothermia.

Ms Davies was discovered on Thursday lying in the Kearvaig bothy and was airlifted by Stornoway Coastguard to the Western Isles Hospital, but died on Saturday.

Her death is not being treated as suspicious and police confirmed there was a note inside asking for food.

Spiritual energy

Media speculation suggested that she may have been involved in the Breatharian cult, which encourages members to live on oxygen and light and a tiny intake of food.

Followers believe that the energy they save on metabolising food and fluid can be redirected into physical, emotional and spiritual energy.

But a Northern Constabulary spokeswoman said: "It's pure speculation. There is absolutely nothing to suggest that she was involved in this cult."

In 1999 an Australian woman who was a member of the Breatharian cult was found dead beside her tent in Sutherland.