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A woman who was killed by her estranged husband had raised concerns about his behaviour to Kent Police on nine separate occasions in the months leading up to her death, an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) report has found.

Anne-Marie Birch, 47, was strangled in a field near her home in Ramsgate in November 2013. Anne-Marie’s husband Lee Birch, 55, admitted her manslaughter and was jailed for life in April 2014.

The IPCC found several of Anne-Marie’s calls to police could have been better handled by the force, with problems including incorrect logging of calls and a lack of awareness among some call centre staff about non-molestation orders (NMOs).

The report found some officers who spoke with Anne-Marie in person prior to the point when she obtained an NMO may have failed to identify or investigate potential offences committed by Lee Birch including harassment and making threats to kill.

The IPCC found that shortly after the NMO had been taken out, officers told Anne-Marie they could not take action against Lee Birch until the order appeared on their police systems. This was despite the fact officers had been shown a threatening note Lee Birch had written on the order itself. He then posted the note through Anne-Marie's door.

The report found these failings by officers may have warranted the bringing of Unsatisfactory Performance Procedures against them. Kent Police has since taken steps to address issues through formal learning for the officers concerned.

IPCC Commissioner Mary Cunneen said:

"Ultimately it is Lee Birch who takes full responsibility for the campaign of harassment against Anne-Marie which culminated in her tragic death.

“Our investigation found that Kent Police could have performed better when Anne-Marie called them for help and we have made 12 recommendations to the force highlighting important areas where its practices can be improved.

“We have also agreed with Kent Police that eight individual officers and three call centre workers should receive specific learning points so the mistakes made in this case are not repeated in the future.”

The IPCC investigation examined the contact between Anne-Marie and Kent Police in the lead up to her death, including six separate occasions in September 2013 when she had called police to raise concerns about her husband’s behaviour.

Anne-Marie called police at 8.32am on the day she was killed - November 7 - to report her husband had been hiding in her back garden. The IPCC found the call had been answered by a trainee call handler and had not been properly logged.

During the investigation, four members of Kent Police staff - a control room team leader, a supervisor and two call handlers - were interviewed under notice.

Kent Police has accepted all 12 learning recommendations made by the IPCC investigators. These included:

• Improving call centre staff awareness of non-molestation orders
• Improving the way systems log multiple calls from the same person/address
• Improving how calls and operational information are recorded
• Ensuring front line staff are familiar with policies on dealing with harassment and threats to kill