18 women killed by men known to police in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in five years

At least 18 women were killed in the last five years by men who were already known to police forces in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

An investigation by ITV Calendar has identified 11 cases in the West Yorkshire Police area between 2019 and 2023 where women died at the hands of partners, ex-partners or family members who were previously reported to the force.

There were three cases in both the Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire force areas, and one in the Humberside Police area.

In 15 cases, the victims themselves went to police. At least four of the killers were on bail at the time they committed the offences.

In each case police had information which identified the men as potential risks.

The research, conducted in conjunction with the Femicide Project, has led to questions about how police deal with domestic abuse cases and how seriously they take threats to women.

The victims

In many of the cases there are stark similarities.

Amy-Leanne Stringfellow, from Doncaster, was murdered in June 2020 by her ex-partner Terrence Papworth. At the time, Papworth was on bail after assaulting her a month earlier.

He had already breached bail once by contacting Amy-Leanne and had been back to court to plead guilty to doing so, but was bailed again by magistrates, against the advice of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Katie Higton, from Huddersfield, was also mudered by a man out on police bail. Her ex-partner, Marcus Osborne, stabbed her and her boyfriend, Steven Harnett, to death in May 2023.

Five days earlier, Katie visited the police station and told officers he regularly attacked her and was controlling and coercive. Osborne had threatened her, saying he would "slit her throat if she said what he had done" and "if she ever got a boyfriend he would kill them both".

Our investigation found other women reported assaults, threats and coercive and controlling behaviour. But in a number of cases information was simply not logged, or was logged incorrectly.

Fawziyah Javed, from Leeds, died after she was pushed from Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh by her husband, Kashif Anwar, killing her and her unborn child in 2021.

The 31-year-old had reported domestic abuse to West Yorkshire Police on two occasions prior to her murder.

She told a police officer that she was going to leave her husband. But the force did not tell Fawziyah that doing this, and also being pregnant, would mean she would be categorised as being at "high risk" of domestic abuse.

We spoke to the mothers of two victims who say their daughters were failed by the authorities.

Bethany Fields was 21 when she was stabbed to death in a street in Huddersfield as she set up a music event in September 2019.

Paul Crowther, the man responsible, had been arrested nine times under the Mental Health Act. He had previously been violent towards at least two other partners.

Her mother Pauline Jones said it was impossible to "comprehend" how Crowther, who was 36 at the time, was free to kill her daughter.

"To lose your daughter and to know it's so preventable, it's crushing, it's devastating. We're broken forever," she added.

In another case Bethany Vincent, who was 26, and her son, nine-year-old Darren "DJ" Henson, were stabbed to death by Bethany's ex-partner Daniel Boulton at their home in Louth, Lincolnshire, on 31 May 2021.

Boulton, who was 29 at the time, was abusive towards Bethany during their relationship. He was the subject of restraining orders banning him from being in contact with her when he carried out the attack.

But he had a violent history and a criminal past which had, largely, been kept from the family until it was too late.

Bethany's mother Caroline Vincent told us her daughter and grandson would still be alive if the authorities had fulfilled their responsibilities.

Analysis by ITV Calendar reporter Amelia Beckett

After covering a number of cases where women were killed by men out on police bail, I felt compelled to investigate just how many women may have already reached out for help before their deaths.

I began by submitting freedom of information requests to all police forces in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The results from each force varied hugely, with some not even recording offences committed on bail.

It was then I teamed up with the Femicide Project to analyse their data and look back at every case of a woman being killed in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire between 2019 and 2023.

Not only are the numbers shocking, but so too are the details of each of those cases.

After a woman is killed by someone they are related to, live with or are in a relationship with, a domestic homicide review should be commissioned.

I've spent months reading through some of those reviews and so many raise the same issues: authorities who knew about the men but didn't communicate with each other; domestic abuse risk assessments carried out inadequately by police; crimes reported but not recorded.

In every case the police force has implemented new procedures and policies in direct response to these reviews.

But this investigation is evidence that the same warnings have been missed time and again. The families left to mourn their loved ones are now asking, why?

What do police say?

In the cases of Amy-Leanne Stringfellow, Katie Higton and Fawziyah Javed there have been investigations by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

In Amy-Leanne's case the watchdog said there was "no indication that any police officers or police staff may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence".

South Yorkshire Police said it implemented immediate action on the recommendations of the domestic homicide review to improve their policing of domestic abuse.

West Yorkshire Police and Lincolnshire Police both said they implemented all recommendations made following the deaths of Bethany Fields and Bethany Vincent.

In the cases of Fawziyah Javed and Katie Higton, IOPC investigations and domestic homicide reviews are ongoing.

These are just three examples from the 18 we have identified.

Former police officer Louise Taylor said part of the problem is cultural.

Referring to her own time in policing, she said: "There were some really good officers that really dealt with domestic abuse well and really helped the victims. And there were some extremely poor officers.

"I was on the plain clothes unit one night and a violent domestic [incident report] came in and it sounded quite severe, and we were literally two streets away.

"So I said to my colleague, 'let's deal with this we’re two streets away'. And he said, 'absolutely not'. I won't use the expletive he used, but basically said, 'no, we're not getting tied up with that. Leave it to the uniformed bobbies'.

"If you're a police officer holding a warrant card, you have a duty to uphold the law and do whatever you should do to protect a victim of crime. And there are people that just can't be bothered.”

'Horrific statistic'

Ms Taylor now works alongside Barnsley-based domestic abuse charity Resolute. Its founder Deborah Jones said she helps women who have had such poor experiences with the police, they no longer reach out for help.

“It's soul destroying for us as an organisation to try and navigate the system for them when they are being felt so poorly", she said.

"We're not seeing domestic violence protection orders being implemented, then, there's no action if a non-molestation order is breached. I've said numerous times these orders are not worth the paper they're written on.”

Clarrie O'Callaghan launched The Femicide Project alongside Dr Karen Ingala Smith in 2015. It collates comprehensive information about women who have been killed in the UK and the men who have killed them.

Ms O'Callaghan said: "Eighteen women in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire is a horrific statistic - to see that lack of care, lack of interest and support for women.

"When they do actually pluck up the courage to call the police, get them involved, locate the perpetrators, they think they are in a position of safety in some respects. But to then find nothing happens or they end up being killed in circumstances where perpetrators are known is absolutely horrific.

"There are rules and regulations and procedures in place which should protect them. But we also have to recognise there are so many women who don't go to the police. So what message does that send to those women? That even when you go and reach out you may still not be in a position of safety, is really alarming."

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