Bethany Fields: Woman murdered by abuser she tried to help

The mother of a woman who was murdered by an abusive former partner just weeks after telling police she feared for her life says she is "broken forever".

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. Three people had reported him to police in the three weeks before Bethany's murder for violent behaviour.

Bethany herself had been to West Yorkshire Police in August 2019 to report her fears that he would hurt her.

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.

"I have no future, Bethany has no future, her father has no future. [She was] completely robbed of her future at 21."

Bethany - described by her mother as "a beautiful soul, a beautiful young lady" - met Crowther in 2017. They moved in together in March 2018.

She tried to help him with longstanding mental health problems but, in June 2019, she ended the relationship because of his abusive behaviour and his constant threats towards her and her friends.

It later became clear that the abuse she suffered mirrored that experienced by two of Crowther's previous victims. 

On the evening of 12 September, Bethany and colleagues from a music company working with people with disabilities were loading equipment into their van outside a club in Huddersfield.

Crowther walked up and attacked her with a knife. She was able to run a short distance before he caught her and continued stabbing her.

Despite first aid she died at the scene.

Crowther then drove to a bridge and threatened to kill himself before he was arrested.

Ms Jones recalled finding out after being called to attend a police station.

"I went into this room and I just kept saying 'Tell me, just please, please, please tell me she's alright'," she said.

"They said the words I'll never forget: 'Your daughter did not survive her injuries'. And I just said: 'What's he done?' I said 'It's that Paul Crowther isn't it?'

"They hung their heads in shame and I said: 'She came to you for help'. And they put their heads down."

Crowther eventually pleaded guilty to Bethany's manslaughter by diminished responsibility on the basis of his mental health problems and was given a hospital order, including life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12 years.

An investigation by ITV Calendar has found that Bethany was one of at least 18 women killed by a partner, ex-partner or family member between 2019 and 2023 who were already known to police. 

At least 15 of those women had gone to the police themselves. At least four of the men were on bail at the time they committed the offence.

'Gross failings, neglect, lack of duty of care'

A domestic homicide review carried out after Bethany's death found a series of missed opportunities to address Paul Crowther's worrying behaviour.

His background meant he "met the definition of a serial perpetrator of domestic abuse" at the time Bethany met him, the review said, but "this was not recognised by agencies until after he killed Bethany".

Crowther had a long history of problems.

His mother told the review he was excluded from school as a result of "going for a teacher", had regular "meltdowns" and was violent towards one of his sisters.

He was admitted to a specialist child psychiatric unit when he was under the age of nine. "He never forgave his mother for this," the review said.

Crowther became increasingly vocal about suicidal thoughts and displayed signs of schizophrenia. He was violent towards a succession of partners.

West Yorkshire Police recorded five incidents of domestic abuse involving one woman Crowther had a relationship with.

He was convicted of harassing another woman.

In total, the force held 15 safeguarding records relating to Crowther in relation domestic abuse dating back to 2000, although in some instances he was recorded as the alleged victim.

On the national police database he was flagged with "warning markers" for violence, mental health, suicidal thoughts and self–harm.

In one instance he had allegedly stabbed an off-duty police community support officer in the leg.

There were also multiple records of contact between Crowther and health services, as well as police, about his own mental health.

Bethany had been in contact with Leeds Domestic Violence Service as early as 2018 because of concerns about Crowther.

On 12 August 2019 she was taken by a friend to a police station in Leeds to report threats he had made against her.

The friend told the review Bethany was given advice about leaving him and was told to telephone 101.

Bethany called the police again four days later to report further threats and gave a statement to the police three days after that.

On that occasion, the review said, she was wrongly assessed as being at medium risk when she should have been classified as a high risk case.

The officer who carried out the assessment was relatively junior and had only been working without supervision for a matter of weeks.

Bethany's friend said she was worried about the pace of the police investigation and feared she might be killed. Within weeks she was dead.

The domestic homicide review identified a series of failings on the part of West Yorkshire Police in identifying and addressing the risks posed to Bethany.

Pauline Jones says Bethany was "100%" failed by the authorities.

She told the review: "Bethany’s life ended needlessly, cruelly without justification, cause or reason other than gross failings, neglect, lack of duty of care, absolute lack of responsibility to protect the public, especially known victims of domestic abuse."

West Yorkshire Police said it had changed its approach to domestic abuse since Bethany's death.

It said daily risk assessment management meetings are now held in each of its districts relating to domestic abuse and stalking cases.      

The force said it had given training to more than 3,000 front line officers and staff to understand how perpetrators operate and to better deal with victims.

In a statement it said: "We continue to strive to have clearer understanding of perpetrator offending behaviour and making better use of operational information and intelligence to intervene and reduce this."     

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