Stopping stackers and domestic abusers will save lives at home and beyond

We also know that home is the most dangerous place for a woman, and coercive control and intimidation is significantly associated with femicide. As a former head of the New Scotland Yard Murder Prevention Unit, a former violence counselor at the National Police Chiefs Council, and founder of the Paladin National Stalking National Advocacy Service, I know these are the most dangerous of the offenders, no not only at home but also beyond.

The 2004 police investigation found that 1 in 12 domestic rapists raped outside the home. Once a violent and controlling person leaves their partner, it does not mean that the violence is over. Evidence suggests they find new partners to abuse. Many had extensive stories of abuse of multiple wives.

However, out of just under 400 domestic violence sex offenders analyzed for the report, only 2 percent were convicted (the longest prison sentence was 14 months), despite the fact that they were committing a serious crime and are dangerous. Most have left with him and continue to insult with impunity, which is alarming and unacceptable.

You may have heard of several offenders who were forcibly removed from the family and who were transferred to rape and murder outside the home, including John Duffy, Peter Tobin, Levi Bellfield, Anthony Hardy, Mark Dixie and Ian Huntley.

Levi Bellfield was persistent and prolific. There were 51 intelligence registers and 55 criminal charges related to assault, domestic abuse, threats, improper assault, rape and grief, all of which were signs of escalating behavior, however connections were not made and he did not face one count.

His former partners Becky Wilkinson and Johanna Collings reported him to police for domestic abuse and threats. Johanna said she would say, ‘You women will never match me. I hate women. I hate blondes, you’re all c ** c, you’re not worth a bolt. “

Former partner Emma Mills escaped Bellfield’s violence by going to a shelter and she talked about a lawyer. Bellfield tracked him down by reporting him missing to police.

He blocked Emma and re-entered her life after she came out of the shelter. He moved into her apartment in Collingwood Place. He said he would not harm her physically again. He was true to his word. The girls and other women were injured, escalating into murder. On March 21, 2002, Milly Dowler disappeared outside Collingwood Place. He kidnapped, raped and killed Milly and hid her body in Yateley Heath Woods, where his ex-girlfriend rode her horse.

In February 2003 Bellfield got stuck and killed Marsha McDonnell while she was getting off a bus in Hampton after being at the Kingston cinema that night. In May 2004 Bellfield stopped and tried to kill Kate Sheedy while she saw a bus in Isleworth. Bellfield used his car as a weapon. And in August 2004 he grabbed and killed Amlie Delagrange in Twickenham Green.

As the body count continued, I explained that he, whoever he was, would have a history of abuse and harm to important women in his life. In the media complaints we called on those women to come forward, and within a few days of setting up the mobile police station in Twickenham Green, Collings came in and said: The man you are looking for is Levi Bellfield. We identified Levi Bellfield within months of Amlies’ murder. In a sense, Operation Yeaddiss was heralded as a successful investigation. However, the stern reality is that he could have been identified very quickly if the connections had been made, and the lessons from this case and others have not yet been learned.

Ian Huntley had a history of violence and abuse, including his ex-wife, Claire Evans, and Maxine Carr. In the midst of meeting and abusing many young girls, and being reported to the police many times, Huntley attacked the young girls coming out of nightclubs. A police officer wrote in the intelligence database, Huntley is a serial rapist “however no action was taken and the opportunity to intervene and stop him was lost, with catastrophic consequences.

10-year-old Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman disappeared on August 4, 2002. Within days of their disappearance, my then-Chief of Murder Investigation at New Scotland Yard was asked to review the missing person’s investigation. At the time I was the Chief of Prevention of Murder at New Scotland Yard and I gladly gave my advice when asked. He then wrote in his review of Operation Fincham,

It is now emerging that Huntley has been suspected of serious sexual assaults (including young women) for a period of time and he has also committed domestic violence. A person ready for a serious attack or sexual assault at home is more likely to carry out serious attacks outside the home. Huntley is a dangerous individual, an individual that needs to be monitored.