Nottingham police warned eight times before pensioner had life savings stolen and was murdered
Nottinghamshire Police were warned eight times that a pensioner’s life was in danger before he was murdered.
Barry Spooner, 74, was killed by Sarah Hansford, 44, who stabbed him more than 30 times and dumped his body in the cellar of his flat in May last year.
Hansford had befriended and preyed on Spooner before draining him of his life savings.
The 74-year-old was killed just weeks before Nottingham University students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and 56-year-old caretaker Ian Coates were stabbed and murdered by paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane.
Nottinghamshire Police has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over the handling of both cases.
According to The Times, the force had been warned eight times in two years regarding Spooner’s welfare, who was reportedly “scared for his health”.
Spooner, a former soldier, suffered “physical abuse” at the hands of Hansford for years, at one point even asking if she could be evicted.
Hansford was allegedly removed from the property by officers, however, days later she attacked the 74-year-old in the shower and dumped his body in the basement of his home.
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The watchdog has since completed its investigation but will not release findings until the inquest has been concluded.
It said it examined “whether decisions and actions taken by Nottinghamshire police officers and staff concerning Spooner’s safety and welfare were appropriate and in accordance with relevant local and national police policy”.
The former soldier’s bank manager, Rob Whiting, said that he informed the police about Hansford around 18 months before Spooner’s murder, in what he would later refer to as “missed opportunities”.
Whiting said: “Vulnerable people need follow-up care. I told the police officers that ‘I want her removed from that property and I want safeguards put in place’.”
He was asked by officers to appear as a witness in the trial but never heard anything from the force after this.
“This is not a petty crime, being asked to be a witness is a major thing, it would make a lot of people very anxious. They have treated me very poorly. I would have made it clear there were missed opportunities,” he said.
The police force said it would not comment until the IOPC released its findings.
A Nottingham city council spokesman said it made “timely and persistent” attempts to contact the 74-year-old once concerns were flagged.
One day after killing the former soldier, Hansford was spotted on CCTV dancing naked in the street, before later shaving her head and dressing in his clothes to withdraw money from an ATM.
She continued to live in his flat for two weeks after the murder.
Hansford was jailed for life with a minimum of 22-and-a-half years, laughing during her sentencing at Nottingham Crown Court in December last year.
Spooner’s family said: “Barry was loved by all in our family. He was a great brother and a dear uncle who was taken away far too early. He will be sadly missed by all.
“He was a devoted family man who would help anyone in need. It is sad for us that no farewell words were spoken and that we had no time to say goodbye to him. He was gone before we knew it.”