Chances missed to stop killer of mum and baby Serial abuser posed danger to adults and children – report
CHANCES were missed to stop a serial domestic abuser who murdered a Birmingham mum and her young baby son, a report has found.
Wesley Williams used a ligature to strangle Yvonne Walsh, 25, and her sevenmonth-old son Harrison, who was murdered as he lay in his cot at his home in Billesley.
The mother had refused a marriage proposal from the violent drug user and split from him just two days before she was murdered on May 31, 2013.
Williams was already known to authorities and his appalling track record was revealed in a serious case review.
The killer had a total of 33 criminal convictions by the age of 17 and was known to a range of agencies, including for domestic violence and ‘non-accidental’ injuries to two of his children.
But after serving a prison sentence for assault, his risk to Yvonne was not correctly identified and managed, the report found.
After the killings, Williams, then aged 29, sent police a text message, confessing to his crime.
The report found: “Whilst the risk posed by the perpetrator was correctly assessed as high to both known adults and children, it is apparent that when his licence conditions ended, this was not sufficiently focused upon. This may have been due to the fact that the index offence for which he was imprisoned was a serious assault upon an adult male.
“But there was overwhelming evidence of the perpetrator’s violent behaviour towards females with whom he had formed rela- the tionships and, in turn, a risk to children – his own and those of others.
“Indeed, whilst in prison he had made threats to the child of an ex-partner. It was certainly predictable that the perpetrator could cause harm to others.
“He was a serial perpetrator of domestic abuse and it is also known from research that a critical time for a victim to be harmed is when a relationship is ended, or is about to end.”
Williams had met his victim after his release from prison in February 2013 and their relationship lasted less than four months.
After the murders, he changed his Facebook status to ‘single’ and casually announced: “Sometimes we just have to do things we shouldn’t... I am sorry it had come to this.” Just hours after the double killing, he was caught on CCTV laughing and high-fiving a flatmate at a McDonald’s restaurant.
Yvonne and Harrison were discovered at their home in Billesley two days later. Williams was jailed for life – with a minimum of 29 years – at Birmingham Crown Court in December 2013.
The Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements review found: “Police and Children’s Social Care missed opportunity to identify relationship, and hence risk, when information passed to them.”
An NSPCC spokesman said: “This report makes it clear that more could have been done to possibly prevent this horrific crime. It is vital that information is shared, not just between agencies, but also with potential victims – and that all possible measures are taken to keep a child or vulnerable family safe from harm.”