Daniela Espirito Santo: Inquest hears details of Grantham mother's complaints against partner

An inquest has heard that a mother died while on the phone to police to report being assaulted just hours after telling officers her partner had strangled and bitten her and broken her fingers.

Daniela Espirito Santo, 23, from Grantham, died while on hold in the early hours of 9 April 2020 after being told to dial the non-emergency 101 number.

Lincoln Coroner's Court heard Ms Espirito Santo had called police multiple times about her partner, Julio Jesus, between May 2019 and her death.

The inquest was told she had previously been "scared to press charges" over fears she would lose her children.

But on the morning of 8 April she told police she was in fear for her life after an incident in which Jesus pinned her down on the bed and strangled her.

He was later arrested on suspicion of assault causing actual bodily harm and bailed, with conditions not to return home or contact Ms Espirito Santo.

But Jesus, now 34, broke the conditions by calling Ms Espirito Santo and going to their property later that night.

She dialled 999 at 11.22pm to report him for assault again, but a police call handler deemed it non-urgent as he had left the property.

Ms Espirito Santo was told to call 101 and spent eight minutes on hold before the non-emergency call handler answered.

On Tuesday the inquest was told that, by the time they answered, all the handler could hear were the distraught cries of Ms Espirito Santo's six-month-old baby.

An ambulance was called and CPR was performed, but she was pronounced dead at 12.58am on 9 April.

The inquest heard she died from heart failure linked to a pre-existing condition.

But pathologist Dr Francis Hollingbury noted she had been involved in altercations with her partner that day, adding: “It is recognised that being involved in stressful events can have an adverse effect on cardiac function and increase the risk of a dysrhythmic event occurring."

'Medium' risk assessment

On Thursday the inquest was played the first 999 call Ms Espirito Santo made on 8 April in which she was clearly distressed and crying.

She told call operator Carmen Booth that Jesus had become angry and aggressive after she asked him to help move a rug so that she could potty train her two-year-old child.

She said Jesus had called her "useless and pathetic" before throwing a child's toy at her, forcing her onto the bed and strangling her.

She told Ms Booth it was not the first time he had strangled her and she had told him "you'll kill me this time".

She said Jesus had then left the property.

The inquest heard from Det Con Matthew Fromm, who was a constable at the time and attended Ms Espirito Santo's home following her 999 call.

Ms Espirito Santo told the officer she had "lost count" of the number of times she had been abused, adding Jesus had tried to strangle her multiple times, threatened to kill her and left bruises on her arms, legs and face.

The inquest heard officers had attended the property six times in 11 months and previous DASH forms had been submitted.

Det Con Fromm completed a domestic assault, stalking and harassment (DASH) form on behalf of Ms Espirito Santo and ruled the risk to her to be "medium".

He told the inquest he did not review her previous DASH assessments until later that day.

Det Con Fromm was questioned by Ms Espirito Santo's family's counsel Shaheen Rahman KC about details Ms Espirito Santo had shared with him of previous abuse.

He said she had told him Jesus had strangled her before, bitten her and broken her fingers. She also showed him pictures of her injuries.

Ms Rahman questioned the officer's training, risk assessment, and decision-making processes.

When asked about whether he should have considered arresting Jesus for coercive and controlling behaviour as well as assault he said: "It could have been considered more."

He added it "should have been something I understood and developed further".

After the DASH risk assessment was reviewed by a senior officer, the risk level was raised to "high".

Following her death, Jesus was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

However, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it could not prove "an evidential link" between the assault and her death and dropped the manslaughter charge.

Instead he was convicted of two counts of assault and spent 10 months in prison.

The family has called on the inquest to answer questions about Lincolnshire Police's response to Daniela's complaints and the safeguarding procedures in place to protect her and others from further abuse.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct found no major breaches of protocol in how Lincolnshire Police handled the case.

The inquest continues and is expected to last three weeks.

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