Cops did nothing to stop Gracie’s murderer
Parents’ fury as inquest finds ‘weirdo’ killed model daughter
THE parents of a model murdered by a stalker accused police of “total incompetence” yesterday.
An inquest jury, who wore pink and purple wristbands in Gracie Spinks’ memory, unanimously ruled the 23-year-old was stabbed in the neck by Michael Sellers, 35, as she looked after her horse, Paddy, in June 2021.
Police had admitted multiple failings over a complaint Gracie made about Sellers, the inquest heard. He was graded as low risk and given “words of advice” on his offending. And no action was taken over a bag of weapons, later linked to Sellers, found near where Gracie was killed a month later.
After the verdict, her father Richard said: “I’m not happy with Derbyshire Police at all because it’s just been a catalogue of errors.
“They just seemed to want to deal with the bag or deal with the complaint and shelve it and forget about it. There was no investigation.
“It’s just total incompetence. Five officers were involved with Gracie’s case, and it got progressively worse.
Each one was more ridiculous than the one before in their inaction, excuses, lack of investigation and not knowing what they were doing.” Gracie’s mum Alison Ward, 53, said: “The police did nothing. All they wanted to do was shut it down.” The hearing was told Gracie, a talented artist and part-time model, had spurned Sellers’ romantic advances six months before her death.
She reported the “complete weirdo” to police in February 2021 after he was seen in a lay-by near the stables at Blue Lodge Farm in Duckmanton, Derbys.
Gracie was stabbed there 10 times the following June. The body of former colleague Sellers was found 150 yards away, with a suicide note saying he “could not deal with all of her lies”. Mr Spinks, 68, said: “When you lose a child, it’s bad enough, but when you lose a child to murder it’s a zillion times more heart-wrenching and upsetting.
“It destroys your life, it will never be the same again.”
In tributes given to Chesterfield coroner’s court, he described his daughter as an “amazing and unique person”, while Mrs Ward said her family’s heart “had been ripped out” by her death.
The court heard she was planning to apply to be a police officer after her brother, Tom, had already applied.
The family have begun a campaign, named Gracie’s Law, which calls for more funding for stalking advocates in forces to deal with complaints.
The inquest heard Sellers had stalked eight previous female colleagues from e-commerce firm Xbite, harassing them with constant requests for dates.
He had tracked one on social media using fake accounts, followed another in his car and appeared parked outside the home of another.
Following the deaths, the Independent Office for Police Conduct said five Derbyshire Police officers had cases to answer for misconduct.