Mum of woman found dead in park feels ‘let down’ by police

MET OFFICERS ‘HAD A REAL OPPORTUNITY TO SAVE HER BUT FAILED IN THEIR DUTY’

THE mum of a 37-year-old woman who died in a Southall park after police officers failed to respond to concerns for her welfare says she feels let down by the force.

Natalie Shotter, a mum of three children including a baby, was found dead in Southall Park on July 17 2021.

It has since emerged that the night before she was found dead, a friend of Natalie’s was concerned that the NHS clerical worker seemed unwell and approached two police officers for help.

The officers were dealing with another incident at the time and did not enter the park or take any further action. Natalie, who her mother remembers as a “beautiful soul”, was then allegedly sexually assaulted and attacked in the park and later died.

An internal investigation into police misconduct was launched following her death, but the family recently learned that despite the investigator recommending the officers should face misconduct proceedings, it was decided officers should face an unsatisfactory performance procedure instead.

Natalie’s family are appealing the decision to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and her mum, Dr Cas Shotter Weetman, has written to the new Met Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, to demand he looks into how this investigation was conducted and how the decision to not to bring misconduct proceedings was reached.

Cas believes the Met “had a real opportunity to save Natalie but failed in their duty”.

She said she cannot get her head around how the police officers decided not to go to her daughter.

She is full of questions for them: “How do you make the judgement about not going to her? What decision did they come to make in their minds that Nat wasn’t a victim? A young woman in a park late at night. Why didn’t one of you go? Why didn’t you ask for help? Why didn’t you ring another unit? She was literally out of sight, out of mind.”

When it comes to the internal investigation, Cas is upset it took so long for the family to be told, only for the police officers not to be sanctioned.

“Families such as ours go through such horrendous grief then at the end it’s a waiting game,” she said.

Finding out the misconduct proceedings were being dropped was “a horror” for the family.

“If you think this warrants nothing then I would question the senior people to question their decision,” she said.

Cas, a lead advanced practitioner in cardiology, feels the principles of protection within the Met are “completely eroded”.

“If you are going to choose to serve then that is what you need to be doing,” she said.

Her faith in the police force has changed since she found out about their ‘ neglect’ on the night her daughter died. “I can’t understand how they could possibly say they are managing to safeguard the public,” she said.

She would like to see the two police officers sanctioned correctly.

“Our job is to get justice for Nat,” she added. “As we manage these huge hurdles coming our way, I will feel we have done everything in our power.”

Cas does also acknowledge that it is not the same with every police officer and that the police who handled the initial investigation worked hard, met with the family

often and “appeared empathetic”, but she feels there is a “smear” across the force now because of the way the family were treated later on.

Natalie had lived in Heston for around 13 years after being raised in Isleworth and studying at the BRIT School. Her children are now three, 15, and 16 years old.

The thing Cas remembers most vividly about her daughter is her kindness. Natalie had worked for an Alzheimer’s charity and the British Heart Foundation and everyone she met would say she was “such a kind being”.

“She was so outwardly kind,” says Cas. “She had a big heart, as big as a lion. It was just unbelievable for somebody who didn’t have an awful lot.”

Cas does not want what happened to her daughter to happen to another young woman.

She feels appalled by the situation with women’s safety in London and stressed the importance of the new commissioner “insisting on principles that people have to align to”.

She said: “Mark Rowley has a huge job but he has taken it so I hope he has got good principles and will apply them. But not only him – it has to be those around him, too. They have to understand their job in society which is protecting others.”

Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said: “At the heart of this is a failure to protect a vulnerable woman. We are told that tackling violence against women and girls is a priority, but we have yet to see actions taken by the criminal justice system result in meaningful change for victims and their families.

“We’ve seen repeated egregious failures to address violence against women by the Met, from the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Met Police officer and the appalling behaviour of officers following the murders of sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman.

“Vulnerable victims are often the most poorly served, and families are left to question why the police did not respond to them as they should have.

“If the Met’s new Commissioner is serious about change, and getting his force out of special measures, he must start listening to victims, naming the cultural transformation required and resist reducing this to a problem with ‘a few corrupt officers’.”

The Met Police continues to investigate Natalie’s death.

A man was arrested in relation to Natalie’s death, but was later released under investigation.

A Met spokesperson said: “That interaction (with the two police officers) was referred to the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) to determine whether the officers acted appropriately based on the information they were given at the time.

“A referral was made to the IOPC and they made the decision that the DPS should investigate.

“An investigation by the DPS found that they should be referred to the Unsatisfactory Performance Procedure but that their actions did not amount to misconduct.

“On October 7 2022, we received a letter from Natalie’s mother. She raised concerns about the DPS decision and the way it was arrived at.

“This is being reviewed and contact will be made with Natalie’s mother to progress this.”

Cas Shotter Weetman with daughter Natalie