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| Police 'missed chance to carry out checks on woman who went on to kill' | Police 'missed chance to carry out checks on woman who went on to kill' |
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| Police missed several opportunities to carry out background checks on a woman who made a series of 999 calls saying she was dangerous shortly before she stabbed two strangers in the street, murdering one of them, the police watchdog has found. Checks would have also revealed that the woman had previously killed her own mother. | |
| Nicola Edgington was jailed for life at the Old Bailey on Monday with a minimum term of 37 years for murder and given a concurrent sentence of life with a minimum term of 20 years for attempted murder. | Nicola Edgington was jailed for life at the Old Bailey on Monday with a minimum term of 37 years for murder and given a concurrent sentence of life with a minimum term of 20 years for attempted murder. |
| Metropolitan police officers dealing with Edgington, who was found guilty last month of the murder of Sally Hodkin, 58, and attempted murder of Kerry Clark, 22, should have checked her details in the police national computer (PNC), a report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) found. | Metropolitan police officers dealing with Edgington, who was found guilty last month of the murder of Sally Hodkin, 58, and attempted murder of Kerry Clark, 22, should have checked her details in the police national computer (PNC), a report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) found. |
| The same was true of staff at the police operations centre who took calls from Edgington during which she spoke of being a dangerous schizophrenic who was likely to kill, the report said. | The same was true of staff at the police operations centre who took calls from Edgington during which she spoke of being a dangerous schizophrenic who was likely to kill, the report said. |
| Had they done so police would have learned that Edgington, 32, killed her mother in 2005 by stabbing her nine times. She pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was deemed well enough to be treated in the community in 2009. | Had they done so police would have learned that Edgington, 32, killed her mother in 2005 by stabbing her nine times. She pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was deemed well enough to be treated in the community in 2009. |
| Edgington's condition began to deteriorate during 2011, and on the day of the attacks, 10 October, police took her voluntarily to a hospital in the early hours of the morning from a minicab office, where she was in an agitated state. At Queen Elizabeth hospital in Woolwich, east London, Edgington made a series of 999 calls in which she warned she could kill someone, before leaving the hospital. She took a bus to Bexleyheath and bought a knife and stabbed Clark, who fought her off. Edgington then stole a 12-inch steak knife from a butcher's shop before attacking Hodkin. | |
| The IPCC report concluded that while no officers had breached conduct rules the officers who took Edgington to hospital had enough details to make a PNC check but did not do so. | The IPCC report concluded that while no officers had breached conduct rules the officers who took Edgington to hospital had enough details to make a PNC check but did not do so. |
| It said: "In view of the nature of the incident the officers were dealing with, it is concluded that they should have carried out a PNC check at some point. Had they done so they would have established Nicola Edgington's history for manslaughter which may have influenced their future decisions. Had the officers established her history and passed it to the staff at the A&E department this may have ensured that she was given a higher priority." | It said: "In view of the nature of the incident the officers were dealing with, it is concluded that they should have carried out a PNC check at some point. Had they done so they would have established Nicola Edgington's history for manslaughter which may have influenced their future decisions. Had the officers established her history and passed it to the staff at the A&E department this may have ensured that she was given a higher priority." |
| A similar view was taken of staff who took one of Edgington's 999 calls, the report saying: "Had a PNC check been carried out, the CCC [communications control centre] staff would have been aware of Nicola Edgington's history and could have notified hospital staff so that more urgency might have been applied to the situation." | A similar view was taken of staff who took one of Edgington's 999 calls, the report saying: "Had a PNC check been carried out, the CCC [communications control centre] staff would have been aware of Nicola Edgington's history and could have notified hospital staff so that more urgency might have been applied to the situation." |
| The report also concluded that while the two officers directly involved, PCs Daniel Phillips and Matthew Payne, could not have initially detained Edgington under section 136 of the Mental Health Act, as the minicab office was private property, they could have done so when she followed them outside after they had taken her to the hospital. | The report also concluded that while the two officers directly involved, PCs Daniel Phillips and Matthew Payne, could not have initially detained Edgington under section 136 of the Mental Health Act, as the minicab office was private property, they could have done so when she followed them outside after they had taken her to the hospital. |
| The IPCC report is not considering the actions of hospital or psychiatric staff involved in the case, something investigated separately. It does, however, note that Edgington's details from the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements scheme, intended to deal with potential reoffending, were not passed by medical staff to local police, as should have been the case. | The IPCC report is not considering the actions of hospital or psychiatric staff involved in the case, something investigated separately. It does, however, note that Edgington's details from the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements scheme, intended to deal with potential reoffending, were not passed by medical staff to local police, as should have been the case. |
| Edgington faces a life sentence after being found guilty last month. The prosecution argued she had been wrongly diagnosed with schizophrenia and had a borderline personality disorder rather than a mental illness. | Edgington faces a life sentence after being found guilty last month. The prosecution argued she had been wrongly diagnosed with schizophrenia and had a borderline personality disorder rather than a mental illness. |
| Hodkin's family has asked to know why Edgington was freed in 2009. They said: "We cannot quite understand how or why Nicola Edgington was released back into society so soon after killing her own mother. Her release in 2009 didn't involve any independent psychiatrists or mental health tribunals; the Ministry of Justice simply followed recommendations from the Bracton Centre where she was being held. This cannot have been the right decision." | Hodkin's family has asked to know why Edgington was freed in 2009. They said: "We cannot quite understand how or why Nicola Edgington was released back into society so soon after killing her own mother. Her release in 2009 didn't involve any independent psychiatrists or mental health tribunals; the Ministry of Justice simply followed recommendations from the Bracton Centre where she was being held. This cannot have been the right decision." |