Complaints regarding police actions and decisions before a woman is found dead - Staffordshire Police, February 2017

Between September 2016 and February 2017, a woman and her friends and family contacted Staffordshire Police a number of times about the woman’s ex-partner, who, they alleged, was harassing the woman and members of her friends and family.

The first contact, on 21 September 2016, was made to Staffordshire Police by a friend of the woman, expressing concerns about her ex-partner threatening to “put a bullet in someone”. Her ex-partner spoke to the control room operator and said he wanted to report that the woman had been the victim of a serious offence. Police officers were dispatched and spoke separately to the woman and her ex-partner, but the woman said she did not want to report the offence. Police completed a domestic abuse risk assessment and made a referral to a third party support agency.

In the following months, a number of contacts were made with Staffordshire Police by various parties, expressing concern for the woman. A support agency made contact with Staffordshire Police in October 2016 expressing concern about the number of contacts the woman was receiving from her ex-partner.

The woman was placed in a refuge in Cleveland in October 2016. She had contact with police in October, expressing concern for her ex-husband, as her ex-partner was making threats against him. Staffordshire Police also received contact from Cleveland Police, expressing concern that the woman’s ex-partner was trying to locate her.

The woman obtained a non-molestation order (NMO) against her ex-partner in November 2016.

The woman reported three breaches of the NMO during November. She also reported that her ex-partner had attempted to get messages to her via third parties and harassed her via social media.

The woman, her ex-husband and her adult son, as well as a friend, all reported unsolicited contact from her ex-partner during December 2016 and January 2017. The woman also reported malicious emails being sent to her ex-husband.

The woman attempted suicide in January 2017. Police were alerted to this after her ex-husband contacted them to say he had been unable to get in touch with her.

The woman’s ex-partner was arrested in February 2017, but was released on bail. The woman contacted police on 4 February 2017 to report a further breach of the NMO.

Two of the woman’s friends, having been unable to contact her, went to her house on 22 February. She was found dead from hanging. Her ex-partner was subsequently arrested and charged with harassment, coercive and controlling behaviour in an intimate or family relationship, and manslaughter. He pleaded guilty to the charges against him in July 2017.

Staffordshire Police referred this matter to the IOPC as a ‘death and serious injury’ referral on 28 February 2017. Subsequently, a friend of the woman and a member of her family separately complained about the way Staffordshire Police had handled various contacts with the woman in the run-up to her death. This additional referral was sent to us in March 2017.

We examined documentation from 34 connected contacts by the woman or her ex-partner which had been made with police between September 2016 and February 2017. This included police incident logs and crime records, statements given by the woman and various other parties, domestic abuse risk assessments and multi-agency documentation. We obtained statements from the complainants, police witnesses and other people who knew the woman. We conducted a detailed analysis of every police interaction with the woman, her friends and her family.

We analysed the actions of all the police officers and police staff members against policies, guidance, other accounts, and the police standards of professional behaviour relevant to their roles.

We were of the opinion there was an indication that an officer may have behaved in a manner which justified the bringing of disciplinary proceedings. This was because they had taken a decision not to arrest the woman’s ex-partner when he was in breach of his non-molestation order, after assessing that the woman appeared to have gone out willingly with him. Additionally, a number of complaints were raised about incivility and advice given that caused evidence to be lost, which related specifically to this officer.

That officer retired from Staffordshire Police in March 2018. However, the investigation found that their performance had been unsatisfactory in making the decision not to arrest the woman’s ex-partner.

A number of issues were also identified as unsatisfactory performance for other officers. This included a failure to record a crime; a failure to take appropriate steps following an application for disclosure under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme; a number of failures to complete mandatory domestic abuse risk assessments with the woman; and a failure to adequately recognise a breach of the NMO.

In total, the investigation made recommendations that seven officers and one member of police staff should receive management action.

We were also of the opinion that there had been inconsistencies in when incidents and crimes were linked on police systems. This had made it more difficult for staff and officers to appreciate the nature and scale of the ex-partner’s offending. Similarly, there had been a failure to consistently conduct lateral research and checks when incidents were reported. We recommended that this should be addressed by way of immediate training for all staff in the call centre environment.

We completed our investigation in February 2019.

After reviewing our report, Staffordshire Police agreed with our opinions and recommendations, and confirmed that all eight officers and police staff would receive management action. The force also agreed to carry out training in line with our recommendations.