POLICE WATCHDOG SLAMMED
A police watchdog has been slammed for failing to publish the findings of their investigations into the murders of three women who had suffered domestic violence up to FOUR years ago. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has investigated Greater Manchester Police’s dealings with Linzi Ashton (below), Rania A layed and Farkhanda Younis prior to their deaths in 2013 but not yet published their findings.
A POLICE watchdog body has been criticised for failing to publish the findings of their investigations into the murders of three women who had suffered domestic violence FOUR years ago.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has investigated Greater Manchester Police’s dealings with Linzi Ashton, Rania Alayed and Farkhanda Younis prior to their deaths in 2013 but has not yet published its findings.
Linzi Ashton, 25, suffered 108 injuries during an hour-long assault by her ex-boyfriend at her home in Salford on June 29, 2013. Michael Cope, 28, at the time, had kicked, and punched her, and used a metal pole and a knife to hurt her before strangling her with a cable tie.
Cope, from Brookhouse, Eccles, was later sentenced to life with a recommendation that he must serve 27 years. It later emerged that Cope had tried to surrender to police two weeks earlier.
He was wanted for an alleged rape and assault on Linzi when a solicitor contacted an officer in GMP’s Public Protection Investigations Unit saying he wanted to give himself up and was at a Manchester city centre law firm. It is understood that police said to the solicitor: “We do not want to speak to him at this stage.”
The IPCC started an investigation two days after Linzi’s death on July 1, 2013.
Now a member of the public has used a Freedom of Information request to ask the watchdog why the report has not been published.
The delay is partly due to the IPCC taking the unprecedented decision to include Linzi’s case in one report which will cover three domestic violence homicides.
Rania Alayed, 25, a mother of three disappeared in June 2013 from her home in Cheetham Hill and had complained to police of abuse.
Her husband Ahmed Al-Khatib, 34, of Knutsford Road, Gorton, was jailed for life in June 2014 after being found guilty of murder. The judge directed he serve a minimum of 20 years. Rania’s body has never been found.
The third case was Farkhanda Younis, 30,whose body was found at her home in Bamford Street, Chadderton, Oldham, on April 19, 2013. She had been stabbed 19 times. Her husband, Jahangir Nazar, 35, was found guilty of her murder in March 2014 and ordered to serve 22 years minimum in jail.
The IPCC is investigating what contact officers had with the family.
All three women made complaints of domestic violence in the months before their murders prompting the IPCC investigation.
The member of the public who submitted the FOI on the Linzi case told the M.E.N.: “I am genuinely concerned about the inordinate unexplained delay. It is a ridiculous length of time.
“The main reason for these reviews and investigation is to pick up learning points to prevent recurrence of mistakes when the police and other agencies are dealing with victims of domestic violence.”
The IPCC in response to his request revealed that the investigation into Linzi concluded on October 5, 2015 - 17 months ago.
In statement, the IPCC said: “We have made our investigation findings known to the force including areas of learning for improving Greater Manchester Police’s handling of domestic violence incidents.
“Comprehensive work has already been carried out by the force to implement recommendations made by the IPCC. We hope to issue our findings shortly.”