Police’s missed chances to act against mum’s killer revealed
ADAMNING report has laid bare a series of chances missed by North Wales Police to take action against a man who later went on to murder his former girlfriend.
Laura Stuart, 33, from Denbigh, was brutally stabbed to death in the town where she lived by controlling ex-partner Jason Cooper in the early hours of August 12, 2017.
Her friend David Roberts was stabbed while trying to save her.
A witness described how Cooper kicked his ex-partner’s head “like he was taking a penalty in a premiership game” as she lay bleeding to death in the street.
Cooper, who was 28 at the time, of St Hilary’s Terrace in Denbigh, was found guilty of her murder on March 15, 2018, and sentenced to a minimum term of 31 years in jail. He failed in an appeal to get the sentence reduced in October 2018.
North Wales Police referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, later changed to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), because it had been in contact with Miss Stuart prior to her death.
Cooper had sent thousands of abusive messages to Miss Stuart in the months leading up to her death, and had also attacked her and threatened to release intimate pictures of her.
Miss Stuart first contacted police in August 2015.
Her final complaint about bully Cooper was exactly two years later – three days before he followed her after she had been on a night out with friends, and murdered her.
The report, two years in the making, was released yesterday and lists a catalogue of missed chances to deal with Miss Stuart’s complaints about her controlling and abusive ex.
The investigation has revealed that Miss Stuart, a mother of two, told police that her ex-partner had threatened to kill her just three days before she died.
The report goes on to list 12 occasions when she contacted police, including one to a call handler, three days before she was killed, chillingly describing how she had received text messages from him saying: “He’s threatening to um, finish at me uh, for good now... It’s, it’s getting beyond an absolute joke... And yeah, and that I’ve got to run. I’d better run.”
She added: “It’s only getting worse. If he sees me in the street then that’s it, I think.”
On one day alone the manipulative bully sent Miss Stuart 421 text messages, predominantly threatening and abusive.
Police had six other contacts about problems with the couple – one from a member of the public who saw Cooper hitting her near Denbigh Castle, and one from her mother, Elizabeth Griffiths.
Miss Stuart asked for Cooper to be issued a Police Information Notice (PIN) – also known as a Harassment Warning Notice.
However, the report said there was no evidence a North Wales Police Sergeant dealing with the case even considered issuing a PIN to Cooper between August 9 and when Miss Stuart died three days later.
The IOPC recommended that three officers and one call handler face misconduct charges over the way police handled Miss Stuart’s complaints.
One police officer and a civilian member of staff are believed to have left the force since the murder and one officer was found guilty of misconduct in April this year.
IOPC operations manager Mel Palmer said: “Reports made to police included allegations that Mr Cooper had used violence, made threats, had financial influence over Laura, attempted to remove her from the house following arguments and had threatened to distribute intimate photographs of her.
“These behaviours were likely to cause Laura distress, isolation and humiliation and escalated over the two years leading up to the tragic events of 12 August, 2017.
“Incidents that may be perceived as low risk need to be viewed as part of a bigger picture so that forces view risk holistically to better safeguard women like Laura.”
The report lists how officers failed during their various dealings with Miss Stuart’s case:
■ failed to complete “risk assessments in respect of Miss Stuart”;
■ failed to “obtain an account from Mr Cooper”;
■ failed to “arrest Cooper”;
■ failed to “make any attempt to see Miss Stuart before finalising the investigation”;
■ failed to “attempt to find witnesses to a domestic incident”;
■ failed to “complete any enquiries regarding the content or frequency of the messages”; and
■ failed “on 9 August, 2017, when Ms Stuart reported that Mr Cooper had threatened her ‘you better run’, made no attempt to document or address Mr Cooper’s alleged actions and did not complete a DASH (domestic abuse, stalking, harassment and honour-based violence) risk assessment form”.
It also told how a call handler, who was not even signed off as “competent” until September 2017 – after Miss Stuart’s murder, failed to make a sufficiently detailed record of what Ms Stuart was saying during the phone call.
Specifically, he did not record Ms Stuart’s allegation that Mr Cooper had threatened to “finish her”, that it was “getting worse” or that she thought that if he saw her in the street “that would be it”.
The report also said there was “no indication that North Wales Police gave any consideration to pursuing the offence of controlling or coercive behaviour”.
The incident, which happened three days before she died, was reported to a call handler who logged it as a managed response, meaning no officer was sent to Miss Stuart’s aid.
That call was linked to a previous call from Miss Stuart two days earlier in which she told police Cooper had threatened to distribute “intimate photos” of her.
The incident log was later updated by the call handler, saying the police officer (known only as PC F) was “happy to call” Miss Stuart later. The incident log was closed.
On August 10, PC F summarised previous interactions with Miss Stuart by writing: “It is noted that if Ms Stuart is unwilling to cancel (her) phone contract and unwilling to provide a statement, the police ability to assist is limited.”
In his account, PC F (who has now left the force) said he assumed another officer (PC C) would complete a “stalking and harassment form”.
The report said there was no evidence PC C was aware of this incident, even though she was investigating the previous incident regarding intimate images.
He said he had made “persistent efforts” to contact Miss Stuart over an earlier complaint of domestic abuse and told her it was important to “take action” against Cooper. He said she “was not interested in any form of prosecution”.
North Wales Police says it “fully accepts the findings” of the IOPC investigation
Superintendent Nick Evans said: “We fully accept and welcome the findings of the IOPC investigation and have been working with them to improve the effectiveness of our operational response.
“This has resulted in improvements to our policy on how domestic abuse incidents are dealt with, further training for our frontline staff and an investment in an increased number of domestic abuse specialists. We are committed to continuing this effort to work with our partners to do all we can to protect victims of domestic abuse and bring offenders to justice.”
THE scourge of domestic violence is one that continues to blight our nation – with the case of Laura Stuart’s death making for particularly grim reading today.
The 33-year-old from Denbigh was murdered by ex-partner Jason Cooper, after being subjected to a long and terrifying campaign of abuse at his hands.
And in her hour of need she was failed by the very authorities that should have helped keep her safe.
A damning report published yesterday lays bare a series of opportunities missed by North Wales Police to take action against Cooper.
Officers had been in contact with Miss Stuart before her death and the force subsequently referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission
(now known as the Independent Office for Police Conduct).
The resulting report makes for sobering reading.
It lists a catalogue of missed chances to deal with Miss Stuart’s complaints about Cooper’s controlling and abusive behaviour and threats.
The mother of two told police he threatened to kill her just three days before he went on to do just that.
The report lists 12 occasions when she contacted police, including one to a call handler, three days before she was killed.
Police had six other contacts about problems with Cooper’s behaviour towards Miss Stuart – one from a member of the public who saw Cooper hitting her near Denbigh Castle, and one from her mother, Elizabeth Griffiths.
The case – and the way it was dealt with – is as shocking as it is depressing, leaving Miss Stuart’s grieving mother stating the simple, inescapable fact: “A lot more could have been done.”
Cooper was found guilty of her murder earlier this year and sentenced to a minimum term of 31 years in jail, but of course, it’s scant consolation for her grieving relatives.
Instead, her death must not be in vain. Lessons must be learned.
The report cannot be left to gather dust, at a time when the tragic roll call of women’s deaths at the hands of partners and ex-partners continues to grow. We have been here too many times before.
This horrifying case must be held up as a warning and an example so that these types of failings from the police do not happen again.