The devastated children of a hairdresser murdered by her ex-lover have criticised police after she was unable to call for help because detectives seized her phone.
Katrina O’Hara was stabbed by her ex-partner Stuart Thomas in Blandford Forum, Dorset, on January 7 2016.
Father-of-four Thomas, 49, killed Ms O’Hara, 44, at the salon where she worked days after being arrested on suspicion of harassing her.
Officers had taken Ms O’Hara’s mobile phone on December 30 in 2015 to investigate the alleged harassment by Thomas.
In a statement her family have spoken of their heartache and claimed her death could have been prevented.
Katrina O’Hara was stabbed by her ex-partner Stuart Thomas in Blandford Forum, Dorset, on January 7 2016
The mother-of-three was left ‘afraid and vulnerable’ by not being able to contact police immediately if she needed to, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.
Following a report into contact between Dorset Police and Ms O’Hara, the police watchdog described this as a ‘serious issue’.
Ms O’Hara’s children said they were ‘deeply upset by the failings identified’ in both the IOPC report and Dorset Community Safety Partnership’s Domestic Homicide Review.
‘For us, they highlight that our mother’s death could have been prevented and this only makes our grief even harder to bear,’ Kyle Stark, 27, Dean Stark, 25 and Morgan O’Hara, 18, said.
‘Our faith in policing has been shaken to the core, and of course we’re disappointed that Dorset Police haven’t taken stronger action against the officers involved.
‘But we’re speaking out not to criticise the police, but to call for change in how all police forces and other agencies handle domestic abuse.
‘We’re victims of police cuts. Every force needs to have the funding to be able to deliver the right training to all officers and support staff, and to then assess how effective that training actually is, otherwise there will be more avoidable deaths.’
Ms O’Hara’s children Kyle Stark, Morgan O’Hara and Dean Stark, who said they were ‘deeply upset’ by the findings of the IOPC report
The family said they hoped Ms O’Hara’s murder would serve as a ‘wake-up call’ to ‘not brush domestic violence issues under the carpet’.
They described grandmother-of-three Ms O’Hara as a ‘pillar of the community’ and said she was ‘everything a Mum should be’.
Karl Griffin, a legal adviser at Hudgell Solicitors, said the family would now take time to ‘digest the findings’ of the reports.
The IOPC has now issued a recommendation, accepted by police chiefs, to all police forces in England and Wales to prevent the situation from occurring.
It also made recommendations to improve Dorset Police’s response to domestic violence and harassment.
Graham Beesley, operations manager of the IOPC, said: ‘Our investigation identified serious concerns with the service provided to Ms O’Hara.
‘On a number of occasions when she contacted Dorset Police, officers failed to take appropriate action in a timely manner and did not take her specific needs and vulnerabilities into account.
Father-of-four Thomas, 49, killed Ms O’Hara, 44, at the salon where she worked days after being arrested on suspicion of harassing her
‘We also found instances where police did not properly consider the seriousness of non-violent risk factors, including the escalating nature of the incidents between Ms O’Hara and Stuart Thomas in the months leading up to her murder.’
Thomas had waited for Ms O’Hara to leave her work at Jock’s Barbers, and chased her back into the salon where he stabbed her in the chest.
He was convicted of murder following a trial at Winchester Crown Court, where he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 26 years.
Dorset Police were in contact with Ms O’Hara and Thomas on numerous occasions before her murder, with an initial report of a physical altercation between them on November 10 in 2015.
Thomas was arrested on December 30 following an incident four days earlier in which he threatened to kill himself and Ms O’Hara.
He was interviewed and released on bail, on the condition that he did not contact Ms O’Hara. Ms O’Hara contacted police reporting potential bail breaches on January 1 and 4.
‘Investigators identified a serious issue when looking into the fact that Ms O’Hara was left without a means of communication after her phone was taken by police on 30 December 2015 as they investigated alleged harassment by Thomas,’ the IOPC said.
Ms O’Hara with her two sons, Kyle and Dean Stark, who have spoken of their disappointment after the IOPC report was published
‘In response, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) has written to all Chief Constables and Domestic Abuse leads across the country urging them to address the recommendation in their local policies and practice.
‘The College of Policing has also agreed to revise its recently published domestic abuse advice to include text for forces to make arrangements to protect domestic abuse victims when their phones have to be seized for policing purposes.’
Dorset Police accepted three IOPC recommendations, including a system to provide temporary replacement phones to people at risk, whose own phones are unavailable for policing reasons.
An acting sergeant was found guilty of misconduct for failing to investigate Ms O’Hara’s report that Thomas had been harassing her and failing to risk assess and put in place suitable safeguarding measures for her.
That officer was given management advice.
Misconduct was also proven for a detective constable for not taking prompt and appropriate action following a report that Thomas may have breached his bail conditions.
The officer was given a written warning.
A detective inspector and a police constable were dealt with for unsatisfactory performance, while three further constables, a sergeant and a member of police staff had no case to answer for misconduct.