Police missed chances to stop murder of Sarah Albone in Bedfordshire

A review into the 2023 murder of Sarah Albone found police may have failed to act on key warning signs. Her killer, Matthew Waddell, is serving at least 32 years.

Inquest hears Bedfordshire Police 'missed opportunities' before woman's killing

Google News CA — Crime (EN) reports that an inquest into the murder of Sarah Albone, 38, has heard that Bedfordshire Police may have "missed opportunities" to intervene before she was killed by her former partner Matthew Waddell.

Waddell was sentenced in 2023 to a minimum of 32 years in prison for the killing of Albone, a mother of three. He hid her body in a suitcase inside a taped-up wheelie bin at her home on Winston Crescent in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. Her remains were found on 25 February 2023 — three months after she was last seen alive.

At a hearing at Ampthill Coroner's Court, Det Supt David Skarratts of Bedfordshire Police was asked whether "too much responsibility" had been placed on Albone to protect herself and engage with police. "With hindsight, potentially yes," Skarratts said. "We have an obligation to safeguard victims; it is clearly not for the victim to safeguard themselves."

Skarratts acknowledged there were "potential missed opportunities" and confirmed that officers who visited Albone's home on at least one occasion had not been aware of the full extent of Waddell's previous behaviour.

The relationship between Albone and Waddell began in 2020. She attempted to end it two months later due to his coercive and controlling behaviour.

Court documents revealed that multi-agency meetings about her welfare were "not provided with the most up-to-date information to inform its risk assessment and safety planning." A meeting held in January 2022 "operated on the flawed assumption that the police investigation into Waddell was ongoing, which gave a false sense of reassurance" — this despite Albone's independent domestic violence adviser reporting that she "had lost confidence in the police and would not contact them again."

The court was also told that on 20 December 2021, Albone called 999 and officers took two hours to arrive. Notes from a subsequent multi-agency meeting recorded that she had felt "let down by the response" and that police had asked her why "she had returned to the relationship." She felt as though "the police blamed her."

Waddell stated he did not wish to participate in the inquest.

Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)