Relatives' Frustration Over Missed 999 Call

29 February 2012, 10:52 | Updated: 29 February 2012, 10:56

Relatives of a family of four murdered in their home in Northampton say they're frustrated police didn't properly follow up a 999 call made during the killings.

Screams were heard in the call made from the Ding family's home in Wootton on Friday 29 April 2011 - the day of the Royal Wedding.  The call was cut short.  An investigation's found Northamptonshire Police ended up going to the wrong address and because of that, they mistakenly thought all was well.

The bodies of Jifeng Ding, his wife Helen Cui, and their daughters Xing Ding, 18, and Alice Ding, 12, (pictured at a previous Christmas) were found two days later on Sunday 1 May 2011.  The main suspect over their murders, businessman Anxiang Du, hasn't been seen since.

In a letter to Northamptonshire Police, the Ding and Cui families say they are frustrated by the mishandling of the 999 call.  Northamptonshire Police have admitted if mistakes hadn't been made, they may well have been able to catch the killer.

Read more about the case

Here is a translation of some of the letter from the Ding and Cui families to Northamptonshire Police

"We have read your letters word by word and understood what has happened during the incident regarding the emergency call.

"The whole family including 76 year old parents cried together in agony when we ever imagine our children lying in blood hopelessly and the outrage caused by the perpetrator.

"All the facts and inference have proved that if the emergency call had been handled properly, it would certainly have had the possibility to save lives.

"Therefore, the logical conclusion of the report according to the facts should be: if the emergency call had been handled properly that it would have changed the damage occurred to the victim and also saved lives, even caught the perpetrator on site.

"The Ding and Cui families will be perpetually living in grief."