The charity Refuge is calling for a public inquiry in the wake of an inquest finding that Maria Stubbings was failed by Essex Police.
Today an inquest into the death of Maria, who was murdered by her former partner Marc Chivers in December 2008, found that her killing was contributed to by a catalogue of failings by Essex Police. These include:
Failure to undertake a risk assessment and safety plan in October 2008, when Chivers was released from prison
· Incompetence of Domestic Abuse and Hate Crime Unit
· Incompetence of supervisors
· Inadequate training
· Ineffective IT systems and lack of communication between intelligence systems
· Ineffective case management and inability to link incidents
· Failure of frontline officers to perform basic policing duties, including failure to arrest perpetrator on numerous occasions
The family of Maria Stubbings and national domestic violence charity Refuge are calling on the Government to launch a public inquiry into the response of the police and other state agencies to victims of domestic violence.
