Police contact with a man and a woman before he killed her - Greater Manchester Police, November 2016

At around 5.45pm on 18 November 2016 Greater Manchester Police (GMP) received a call for assistance from North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) to assist with a man who was reported to be having a mental health episode. It was agreed that the police would attend to assist, once the ambulance had been dispatched. NWAS had been called by one of the man’s parents and told that they should ask police to assist.

After several delays due to resourcing issues, and after receiving a further call from NWAS raising concerns about an outgoing disturbance, four GMP officers attended the address around 9.30pm. NWAS reported that the man had been on the phone to their control room and a woman could be heard screaming in the background. Two response officers arrived first and were talking to the man, his mother, and the man’s girlfriend at the door of the address when two more officers arrived. One of them joined the other two officers at the door speaking to the occupants, while the other waited further up the drive. During the conversation with the occupants, allegations of assault by the man against his father and his girlfriend were disclosed. Officers took the man’s girlfriend and his mother to the police van and the man’s girlfriend showed them a laptop, with a document listing various things the man had done to her, and documenting his behaviour over a period of time. BWV seems to show only one officer having read this document. The man’s girlfriend was taken to her mother’s home for her safety.

Around 10pm, one of the officers in attendance provided an update to the control room stating that the man was calm and there was no apparent role for the police. The two original officers re-attended the incident with the paramedics later that evening and did not disclose the document they had seen on the laptop. The man said he did not need any assistance, so the paramedics left, and the man remained at the address.

On 28 November 2016, the man contacted GMP to report that his girlfriend had been stabbed. She subsequently died from her injuries. The man was later convicted of her manslaughter.

During the investigation, the Investigator served notices on the three officers who had been speaking with the man, his mother and his girlfriend at the front door to the address. The fourth officer was interviewed as a witness. We obtained other witness statements from one of the paramedics, the man’s mother and an inspector. We also reviewed BWV footage.

The Investigator found an indication that one of the officers may have behaved in a way which would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings for failing to follow up the disclosures of potential crimes that were made to them while at the address, and failing to follow the force’s domestic abuse policy.

The Investigator also found that the actions of another officer fell below the standard expected and recommended their performance issues be addressed. The Investigator did not find a case for the third officer.

After reviewing our report, GMP determined that there was insufficient evidence of misconduct for the first officer and considered that their performance had been unsatisfactory, and that there was insufficient evidence that the officer had deliberately neglected their duties or responsibilities. GMP proposed that the officer would receive further training on mental health and domestic abuse, with a monitored action plan.

The force also determined that the performance of the second officer had not been unsatisfactory, but that they should receive feedback about the conclusion and learning from this incident.

After reviewing their rationale, we agreed that their proposals were appropriate.

We completed our investigation in November 2017 but waited until the inquest into the death of the man’s girlfriend had taken place, in autumn 2019, before publishing our findings.