Officers 'Failed Checks' On Bexleyheath Knife Killer

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has published its findings from an investigation into contact between the Metropolitan Police Service and Nicola Edgington before the murder of Sally Hodkin on Monday 10 October 2011.

Mrs Hodkin, 59 from London, died following a fatal stab wound to her neck. She had been walking to work along Bexleyheath Broadway when she was attacked by Edgington. Kerry Clark fought off an attack from Edgington minutes before Mrs Hodkin was stabbed.

Edgington made five 999 calls to police in the hours before the killing saying she wanted to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act because she was a danger to those around her.

Four of those calls were made while she was within the Accident and Emergency department of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich waiting to be seen by a mental health team. Edgington had been taken voluntarily to the hospital as a place of safety by two MPS officers who responded to the initial 999 call. The hospital reported to police that she had absconded approximately 90 minutes before the attacks in Bexleyheath.

The IPCC investigation local borough police in Greenwich were not notified by the Mental Health Casework Section (MHCS) of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) that Edgington was living in the area following her release from an indefinite hospital order in 2009 and was a multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) eligible offender.

MPS officers and police staff did not carry out a Police National Computer (PNC) check on Edgington during their interactions with her on 10 October 2011 which would have alerted them to her previous conviction for manslaughter.

Officers missed an opportunity to use their powers under section 136 of the Mental Health Act when Edgington tried to leave the A&E department shortly after she arrived with police.

Edgington’s second 999 call from the A&E department was downgraded because she was considered to be in a place of safety and an officer was not asked to return despite Edgington saying she could be very dangerous. The police only contacted the hospital after a fourth call had been received.

IPCC Commissioner Sarah Green said: "This tragic case has robbed a family of a much-loved wife, mother, grandmother and friend and my thoughts again go out to Sally Hodkin’s family.

"Nicola Edgington had a violent history linked to her mental health problems and was evidently aware that she was a threat to others. On Monday 10 October 2011, she made repeated phone calls to police asking to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act and warned officers in person of the risk she posed to those around her.

"While our investigation found that no police officers or staff breached the code of conduct, it is of great concern that no PNC check was carried out which would have immediately alerted them to Edgington’s violent history.

"Without this PNC check, both the police and staff at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich were without crucial information which may have influenced their future decisions, increased the urgency of the situation and could have escalated the medical attention she was given.

"We also found that when Edgington tried to leave the hospital shortly after she arrived, there was a missed opportunity for the officers to use their powers under section 136 of the Mental Health Act which would have provided medical staff with the opportunity to detain her.

"However we note that nursing staff at the Oxleas Centre also decided not to use their powers under the Mental Health Act 1983 to detain Nicola Edgington on the basis that she was voluntarily consenting to admission, and that it was from the care of the mental health unit that Nicola Edgington absconded to commit her terrible crimes.

"It is to be hoped that both the MPS and the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust will learn lessons from this tragic case to improve the handling of high risk individuals such as Nicola Edgington in the future."

(GK)