Official review into Marion Price murder recommends safeguarding improvements for GP practices and county hospitals
Opportunities to help a Northamptonshire woman who was eventually murdered by her controlling and coercive ex-husband were missed by healthcare professionals, a report into her death has revealed.
The Domestic Homicide Review into the circumstances of the death of the mother and grandmother from Earls Barton was published last month after being shared with her family.
Recommendations have been made following a review of the circumstances surrounding her murder and the contact she had with health professionals who she saw in the run up to her death.
In line with review protocol, names in the report were anonymised using the name ‘Patsy’, but with the knowledge of her family the Northants Telegraph has used her real name, Marion Price.
The report by the Domestic Homicide Review members said: “The members of this review panel offer their sincere condolences to the family of Patsy for the sad loss in such tragic circumstances.”
Marion was 63 years when she was shot through the window of her parked car in Packwood Crescent in December 2019, and died from her injuries.
Her ex-husband Michael Reader and his accomplice Stephen Welch were found guilty of her murder following a trial at Northampton Crown Court in December 2020.
In November 2016, Marion had left Reader after she had been left to pay the bills at his house. She became ill and by January 2017, Patsy attended her GP who prescribed anti-depressants. She had to take time off work due to her illnesses and eventually lost her job.
The report says that during her visits to her GP there was ‘no evidence’ she was ever signposted to any domestic abuse support services in accordance with guidance issued by the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Routine appointments Marion had at Northampton General Hospital and Kettering General Hospital, between 2013 and 2015, failed to uncover abuse as patient questions in line with ‘expected practice’ for all health professionals were not carried out. The review says this was ‘a missed opportunity’ to expose abuse and provide a potential pathway to support.
Following the Domestic Homicide Review, Marion’s GP practice has ‘taken steps’ to improve its position to conform to the guidance and being more ‘proactive’ in supporting victims of domestic abuse.
The panel made the following recommendations:
Recommendation one
All Northamptonshire Clinical Commissioning Groups should ensure that GP surgeries have a policy for domestic abuse which covers training and passing on information. They should promote engagement of patients subject to domestic abuse through the use of posters and recognise alerting features. They should also improve staff training.
Yvonne Higgins, Chief Nursing Officer, NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board, said: “This is an extremely sad case and our thoughts continue to be with ‘Patsy’s’ family and friends as they try to come to terms with their loss.
“All providers are required to carry out training and have policies in place for safeguarding adults and children and since the review we have worked with our GP practices to improve processes relating to domestic abuse.
“There is now a domestic abuse project worker in post, which is funded by the Home Office, and has been supporting all providers including GP practices. The project officer has also been raising awareness about the need to make routine enquiries into experiences of domestic abuse (when safe to do so), and how to do this. A health system steering group has been set-up to oversee and monitor the work of the domestic abuse project, and ensure partners have the opportunity to input and are part of the decision-making process.”
The second recommendation made by the panel has set out changes to training, policy and procedures at Kettering General Hospital and Northampton General Hospital.
Recommendation two
Northampton General Hospital and Kettering General Hospital should assure the North Northamptonshire Community Safety Partnership that routine enquiry into domestic abuse is embedded into training, policy and procedure.
University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) Group Chief Nurse Julie Hogg said: “We are taking actions to further embed routine enquiry into domestic circumstances in our hospitals. It is already embedded in areas such as maternity and work is ongoing to ensure we consistently take these same steps throughout the rest of our services.
“We have a dedicated safeguarding team at both of our hospitals who work hard to improve our safeguarding policies and processes every day, and we take our duty to support individuals who are suffering abuse very seriously.”
The report acknowledges that Marion received ‘good’ support from The Sunflower Centre – who help victims of domestic violence in Northamptonshire. They arranged a safety plan and referred her case to the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference, a move made in cases assessed as being at ‘high risk of significant harm and domestic homicide’.
She had sought help from police, health and domestic violence services in May 2017, after she reported Reader had repeatedly hit her over the head with a mallet as well as threatening her mum and her children. The attack resulted in a head injury that required stitching and a broken finger where she had tried to defend herself.
As a result of a police investigation the Reader was charged with wounding with intent. After a trial at Northampton Crown Court in March 2018 he was acquitted by a jury, but the court imposed a five-year restraining order.
The review says two Northamptonshire Police had failed to act on two ‘issues’, the threat to Marion’s mum and children that should have resulted in a ‘Public Protection Notice’, and a mix up between officers regarding a ‘Domestic Violence Protection Notice’ (DVPN) and ‘Domestic Violence Protection Order’ (DVPO).
Following ‘significant improvements’ by Northants Police on domestic abuse no recommendations were made to the force.
The report said: "After looking into changes of policies and procedures since the time of events of this review, it appears that there has been significant improvements made in both of these areas of work.
“The DHR panel is reassured that the issues raised through discussion have been adequately addressed by Northamptonshire Police and consider that there is no need for any further recommendations for the police.”
A Northamptonshire Police spokesperson said: “Violence against women and girls remains a matter of priority for the force, and we continue to focus on ensuring victims are protected from harm. This includes victims of domestic abuse, stalking and harassment.
“All officers and police staff who may encounter this type of offending receive our domestic abuse matters training, which not only introduces domestic abuse but provides information on legislation to support victims. It also raises awareness of the links with this type of behaviour and stalking.
“In addition to this, all victims are also referred to Voice - a support service for anyone living in Northamptonshire who has been a victim of crime. Voice employs specialised stalking advocates who can help and support victims throughout the process – from the initial report to any legal proceedings that follow. If the stalking stems from an intimate/domestic relationship, then we also refer our victims to independent domestic violence advisors).”
Without her knowledge, Marion’s car had been tracked by Reader, who had fitted a device on to her car to monitor her movements.
It is hoped the third recommendation arsing from Marion’s case will help to protect victims of domestic violence across the UK.
Working with The National Association of Body Repairers, that has thousands of body repairers and mechanics as affiliated members, information from Northamptonshire Domestic Abuse Service, Northamptonshire Police and partners highlighted the use of tracking devices in domestic abuse cases, with the recommendation repairers tell car owners if they find a hidden tracker.
Recommendation three
Northamptonshire Domestic Abuse Service should continue to engage with the National Association of Body Repairers to progress the advice to repairers and mechanics to alert drivers of vehicles when tracker devices are identified particularly on private motor cars.
For domestic violence help and support go to https://voicenorthants.org/
If you are in immediate danger, call 999. Otherwise, call 101