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Our investigation into Staffordshire Police’s response to incidents involving stalking victim Justene Reece has led to the force accepting training recommendations to improve the linking of incidents and crimes.

We looked at the effectiveness of the police response to 34 incidents either directly involving or connected to Ms Reece between September 2016 and when she died, in February 2017.

Ms Reece took her own life following a sustained campaign of harassment by her ex-partner, Nicholas Allen, who was jailed for ten years in June 2017 after admitting manslaughter, engaging in coercive or controlling behaviour, and stalking.

We began our investigation in March 2017 following complaints made about the actions taken by police after they were contacted by Ms Reece, her family and friends who were also targeted by Mr Allen, and other agencies.

Evidence gathered by our investigator indicated that, contrary to policy, Staffordshire Police had consistently failed to cross-reference incidents and crimes reported to them on force computer systems. Of the 34 incidents, 16 were not cross-referenced with any previous ones, and many of the remainder were only cross-referenced to one other incident rather than to a range. Seven of the 14 incidents reported by Ms Reece were not cross-referenced at all.

In six of 13 domestic incidents recorded, a mandatory domestic abuse risk assessment was not carried out, which was in breach of force policy. The assessments are a tool designed to indicate risk of harm and trigger safeguarding where necessary.

In nearly half (16) of the incidents no research or intelligence checks were made, as they should have been in a domestic abuse case.

IOPC Regional Director Derrick Campbell said:

“Our sympathies are with the family of Justene Reece and all those affected by her tragic death.

“It is evident from our investigation that there were potential opportunities for the police to engage more robustly with Mr Allen.

“Officers were largely deployed to incidents appropriately, but a failure to cross-reference incidents led to them being treated in isolation, and a lost opportunity to recognise the scale of Mr Allen’s offending. The bigger picture of the level of harassment and stalking being perpetrated was not properly seen by police. We took the view that the prevalence of inconsistent practice among call handlers in cross-referencing indicated a training issue for the force, rather than a series of unrelated errors by individuals. 

“I am pleased that Staffordshire Police has accepted our learning recommendations that all staff and officers who use the relevant systems should be further trained in the effective cross-referencing of incidents and crimes. This case has shown its importance, along with effective research checks, in helping police to join the dots and safeguard vulnerable people.”

The force agreed that, although it did not amount to misconduct, the performance of a now retired senior officer was unsatisfactory in relation to advice given not to arrest Mr Allen for a reported breach of a non-molestation order (NMO) in December 2016.

Guidance states that it is the responsibility of the offender and not the victim to ensure NMOs are complied with. Therefore, we did not accept the rationale given that Ms Reece had been complicit by going with Mr Allen to a pub after he turned up at the home where she was then staying.

It was one of seven NMO breaches by Mr Allen that Ms Reece reported to the force during the period under investigation.   

It was also agreed with the force that seven officers and one member of police staff should receive management action in the form of advice as their performance had not met expected standards. This was in relation to issues such as the handling of calls and not completing risk assessments.

During our investigation, finalised in February this year, we reviewed relevant policies and guidance in relation to domestic abuse. We also studied police incident logs and crime records, and statements given by police witnesses, Ms Reece, and other people who knew her, including the complainants.

During National Stalking Awareness Week earlier this month we launched our ‘Make Yourself Heard’ campaign, to raise awareness of a system to help people alert police when in imminent danger but unable to speak.

You can read more about our campaign here