Essex: Police Criticised Over Maria Stubbings Murder

The Independent Police Complaints Commission says there's a case to answer for misconduct against three Essex officers after a woman was murdered by her ex boyfriend.

Convicted killer Mark Chivers strangled Maria Stubbings in December 2008 at her home in Chelmsford. 

This second report from the IPCC finds the force missed a large number of opportunities to proactively safeguard Maria and her son. 

It also says the failings of Essex Police went far wider than the inaction of the three individuals. Marc Chivers was jailed after assaulting her in July, months after first meeting her. 

The IPCC reports although Maria was offered protection while he was inside for that assault - the support just wasn't there when he got out that October. 

She was murdered just before Christmas 2008. The watchdog's made a number of recommendations to Essex Police. 

All officers dealing with domestic abuse incidents need to consider the physical and emotional well-being of any children involved. It wants thorough intelligence checks to ensure suspects are traced quickly with those considered potentially dangerous dealt with there and then. 

The IPCC does note the force has made recent improvements in the area of domestic abuse - which must be fully understood by frontline officers. 

In a statement, Essex Police says it has accepted the findings of the second report into the murder of Maria Stubbings and the Chief Constable has offered to meet her family to apologise for its failings. 

The force says the IPCC report shows a combination of factors including gaps in the law, human error, missed opportunities and organisational failures contributed to her murder.

Three officers identified in the report as having failed in their duties have been subject to management action in agreement with the IPCC and significant changes to the policing of domestic abuse have taken place since Maria Stubbings death in 2008.

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh said: "A combination of factors including missed opportunities and organisational failures led to the brutal murder of Maria Stubbings. As a force we must never lose sight of the impact of her death at the hands of a violent offender and we must respond to the IPCC report in a positive way.

"We fully recognise that this is one of three tragic murders in Essex which has led to an IPCC investigation. We have taken on board the recommendations of those reports, many are already in place and work continues to improve the consistency of our response to domestic abuse.

"There is much being done, both internally, and externally with partners to combat domestic abuse in Essex. It is one of the biggest challenges we face - every day we deal with an average of 80 incidents, each one complex. Essex Police rightly dedicate significant resources to tackling this issue and our commitment to meeting this demand and keeping vulnerable people safe is unequivocal."

Essex Police has made considerable efforts to improve the way domestic abuse is handled and whilst we accept there is more to be done, some of the changes that have been made include:

  • All calls received at the switchboard are now recorded;
  • Policies and procedures concerning call grading have been revised to reduce the risk of ambiguities or inconsistencies;
  • The domestic abuse policy now requires checks on suspects' background, intelligence held, previous calls made and, where appropriate reference to Police National Computer records. These checks are done by a Domestic Abuse Intelligence Team which was established in August 2011;
  • All police staff that take reports of domestic abuse are provided with Domestic Abuse Stalking and Harassment (DASH) training;
  • All domestic abuse incidents are treated as a matter of priority and all callers are seen by officers to enable early intervention and investigation;
  • A Central Referral Unit (CRU) is now in place - responsible for coordinating the referral and risk management processes for domestic abuse and vulnerable adults. This unit also ensures relevant information is shared with social service departments and other agencies;
  • Work is continuing to develop a Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) for domestic abuse, working with partners including Essex County Council, health, probation and the voluntary sector, which will bring together relevant agencies in one location with the common aim of responding effectively to domestic abuse incidents.

In response, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex, Nick Alston said: "It is now essential that we ensure the lessons of the failings identified by the IPCC have been learned by Essex Police and acted upon. 

"In Essex, over 80 domestic abuse incidents are reported to police every single day. Whilst there are individual examples of good and professional work, the police response to domestic abuse incidents both in Essex and across the country needs to be better than it was or currently is. 

"I received a preliminary copy of the IPCC report into the murder of Maria Stubbings in February 2013, and I immediately encouraged Essex Police to invite HMIC to inspect the force?s practices and processes for dealing with domestic abuse. 

"I have seen the draft HMIC report, from which I conclude that whilst there has been improvement, there are still significant areas of learning for the force. I will continue to discuss those areas for improvement with the force's new Chief Constable, Stephen Kavanagh. HMIC will publish their final report shortly. 

"As I have strived to understand more about the complexity of domestic abuse, I have been disappointed to learn that there is no single body of work which is accepted as national best practice for police forces and partner agencies in the NHS, social services and the voluntary sector. 

"I welcome any efforts to further develop national best practice for tackling domestic abuse, and pledge my complete support to that urgent and essential work."