The dad and mom of Gracie Spinks have instructed Sky News how she “thought she was safe” after reporting her stalker to the police.
Ms Spinks, 23, was killed by Michael Sellers, on 18 June two years in the past in Duckmanton, Derbyshire.
She reported Sellers, her “obsessed” former colleague, to Derbyshire Police a number of instances earlier than he killed her, after which killed himself.
The drive has since admitted a number of failings in how they dealt with her complaints, together with categorising Sellers, who had beforehand acted inappropriately to eight different ladies, as low threat.
This week, following an inquest into her dying, a coroner warned of a “postcode lottery” for stalking victims on the lookout for a police response.
Her dad and mom, Alison Ward and Richard Spinks, are campaigning for higher safety for stalking victims and to make sure higher consistency in how police deal with stalking complaints throughout the UK.
Speaking to The UK Tonight with Sarah Jane-Mee about their daughter’s dealings with the police, Mr Spinks stated: “I think initially, she [Gracie] thought that she was safe, once she had made that initial complaint, and I don’t think she was given the proper advice.
“And actually the officer involved did not comply with it via and examine and ask to see his [Sellers’s] information, which might have spooked her [Gracie] slightly bit and made her assume: ‘Well, he is accomplished this to different ladies’.
“So she sort of thought that she was secure. She handed it over to the police – finish of – and simply carried on along with her life and her routine.
“I don’t think it worried her too much at that point. She had dealt with it, she had told employers, she had taken some action.
“We thought every little thing was okay, and it went on like that for months.”
On the police’s response, he said: “We bought the impression they simply wished to log it in on the system, put it away, overlook about it and get on with one thing else.
“It wasn’t taken seriously. This is basic policing that wasn’t done.”
Ms Ward added: “I mean, there was no investigation done basically from start to finish with Gracie’s call.”
An inquest following Ms Spinks’s dying heard how Derbyshire Police made a number of errors in its “limited investigation” into the stalking allegation towards Sellers.
It heard how Sellers was graded low threat by officers regardless of behaving inappropriately to eight different ladies earlier than he was reported by Ms Spinks.
Police additionally dismissed a bag of weapons – later discovered to belong to Sellers – that was discovered close to the place Ms Spinks was ultimately killed a month later.
The drive later admitted and apologised for a number of failings. The inquest jury was not requested to determine whether or not these contributed to Ms Spinks’s dying.
This week, Matthew Kewley, assistant coroner for Derby and Derbyshire, stated there was an absence of consistency in police forces’ talents to research stalking reviews nationwide.
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He addressed a Prevention of Future Deaths report back to Derbyshire Constabulary and Home Secretary James Cleverly, which outlined six areas of concern.
Asked what he want to see in response to the coroner’s report, Mr Spinks stated he hoped to see police forces deliver in additional stalking coordinators and advocates to cope with victims of stalking.
“But very importantly, I think this should be underlined is the training for the officers – proper training in dealing with stalking – and it has got to be throughout the country, which is our campaign,” he added.
Asked if he had a message for the house secretary, he stated: “It [change] comes from the top.
“We hope that everyone will rise up and make some modifications. And we’ll be sincere now. We’re not going to let it go. I really feel like Gracie’s pushing me alongside and saying to do that.”
Both Derbyshire Constabulary and the Home Office have 56 days to respond, outlining what action has been or will be taken or stating why no action is proposed.
Deputy Chief Constable at Derbyshire Constabulary, Simon Blatchly, said the force would review the recommendations made by the coroner.
He added that “vital work” had “already been undertaken” to “sort out the failures” recognized previous to the inquest.
Source: information.sky.com”