Samaritan family not told of killer’s threats on Facebook

A FAMILY who took in a homeless drug addict were not told by police he had made ‘threatening’ Facebook posts a month before he knifed the mother and son to death.

Aaron Barley, 24, was yesterday jailed for life with a minimum of 30 years for murdering Tracey Wilkinson, 50, and her son Pierce, 13, at their home in Stourbridge, West Midlands, after they tried to help him.

Barley’s former foster carer, a teacher he described as his ‘nan’, had warned police about his increasingly threatening Facebook messages, in which he had vowed to ‘take down his family and [was] wondering how many he could get before he was caught’.

Another post said: ‘Got to try and get some help before I go on a killing spree’, while another read: ‘Don’t f*** with me, I’m unstable right now.’ Yesterday, after a judge said Barley had ‘betrayed the trust’ of the Good Samaritan family ‘in every way’, police confirmed they had been contacted about some of Barley’s messages. But officers did not interview the serial offender and were unaware of his year- long involvement with the Wilkinsons.

Barley’s former foster carer first met him at a behavioural unit where she was teaching in 2002. She looked after him between 2003 and 2007, during which time his personality became ‘increasingly violent’, Birmingham Crown Court heard.

She maintained contact with him when the fostering arrangement ended, and was aware he was being helped by the Wilkinsons, as well as his various run-ins with the police.

Barley, pictured, continued to ask his ex-foster carer, now aged 73, for money ‘even when he was also receiving it from the Wilkinsons’.

West Midlands Police said: ‘We did get a report regarding threatening Facebook posts. Checks were made with Barley’s family members but the threats were not specific. At the time we were not aware of Barley’s relationship with the Wilkinson family.’

The force did not refer itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the watchdog is not believed to be investigating the matter.