Police contact with man preceding murder – Derbyshire Constabulary, February 2020

On 15 February 2020, a vulnerable man was found dead and a woman, who acted in an unofficial capacity as the man’s live-in carer, was convicted of his murder. After the woman moved in with the vulnerable man, neighbours called the police to report welfare concerns on five separate occasions between December 2018 and December 2019. Our investigation focused on the police response to those five incidents. We specifically investigated the actions and decisions of Derbyshire Constabulary in relation to the incidents and whether local and national policies and procedures were followed. We obtained and analysed the incident logs for the five previous incidents. Derbyshire Constabulary shared witness statements from the neighbours who reported the earlier incidents to the police. We reviewed and analysed these statements for our investigation. We also analysed statements from the officers who attended the earlier incidents. Our investigation concluded in October 2020. We concluded there …