Revealed: Catalogue of devastating failings which left a violent thug free to batter his ex-girlfriend to death before smearing her blood on his face and taking a SELFIE
- Career thug Joe Storey, 28, murdered Kerri McAuley, from Norwich, in July 2016
- Had previously attacked five exes and had three restraining orders against him
- McAuley warned police she was at risk but probation manager ‘overwhelmed’
Joe Storey, 28, was sentenced to life in prison after he murdered Kerri McAuley
A thug was left free to batter his former partner to death despite being prosecuted for attacking her a year before and having three restraining orders against him from other ex-girlfriends, a report revealed today.
Joe Storey, 28, murdered Kerri McAuley, from Norwich, then smeared her blood on his face before taking a selfie and leaving her to die.
The 32-year-old suffered 19 injuries to her head and face during the savage attack.
A domestic homicide review over the January 2017 killing today lifts the lid on ‘massive’ failings by organisations meant to protect her, and put forward 32 recommendations to stop a similar tragedy in the future.
Ms McAuley publicly posted graphic pictures of her injuries caused by Storey, saying he had left her with ‘a broken cheek bone and a broken heart’
Storey murdered Kerri McAuley (pictured together) then smeared her blood on his face before taking a selfie and leaving her to die
The report, by the Norfolk County Community Safety Partnership, found:
• Storey violently attacked five previous girlfriends as far back as 2008, and at the time of the murder had three restraining orders to protect former partners;
• Ms McAuley, a mother-of-two, told police she feared Storey would kill her during an attack in July 2016. She later told a friend ‘I know he is going to kill me’;
• Storey was prosecuted for that attack, in which Ms McAuley escaped through a window, but prosecutors dropped the case;
• The probation service manager who took on Storey’s case was ‘overwhelmed’ with work, failed to read his file and was not aware of the full background of domestic abuse;
• A risk assessment by probation services in 2008, when Storey was 18, found he had ‘the potential to inflict fatal harm upon his partner and unborn child’.
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The 82-page report found that while staff ‘did act’, none of this protected Ms McAuley and the threat Storey posed ‘was not recognised by the processes set up to protect her and deter him’.
Responding to the report, Ms McAuley’s mother Lesley, said: ‘I’m absolutely devastated. I feel that opportunities were missed. One of my main things is where was the communication between the authorities?
The 32-year-old suffered 19 injuries to her head and face during the savage attack
‘That’s quite a huge thing, the communication between probation, the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), where was it to safeguard my daughter?
‘I was reading the report but started to weep. I cried all the way through what I was reading, its soul destroying.
‘You put it all together and they’ve failed. There’s just so much, so many failings, so many things that could’ve been done differently – it means my daughter could’ve been alive. I feel totally let down and totally disgusted.’
Ms McAuley’s brother, Rory, said: ‘The police, social services, probation – we believe these authorities are there to help us and will be there for us when we need them the most. But it could not be any more apparent than in my sister’s case that she was failed.’
The mother-of-two was murdered by Storey six months after she endured four hours of being attacked and locked away
The report found that Storey’s ‘true risk’ might not have been recognised because when he was convicted of domestic abuse against past girlfriends he was charged with less serious crimes like common assault – rather than actual bodily harm.
The review said Storey’s criminal convictions before he killed Ms McAuley ‘do not adequately represent the risk he posed to his victims and the fear he instilled within them’.
The report found that had Storey been charged and convicted when he attacked Ms McAuley in July 2016 ‘he may have received another prison sentence, this may have prevented the murder of Ms McAuley.’
But ultimately, the review found it would be ‘wrong to blame any individual’ for failings which led to Ms McAuley’s death.
It said: ‘There is only one person to blame for Ms McAuley’s death; that is the perpetrator.’
The report also called on the Ministry of Justice to review staffing levels in the probation service.
It found that Storey’s case officer was overworked with a caseload of 192 percent – twice what it should have been.
The mother-of-two was murdered by Storey six months after she endured four hours of being attacked and locked away. In this first attack, in July 21016, she escaped through a window wearing only her underwear.
The CPS admitted it should have handled the prosecution of Storey for the attack on Ms McAuley in October 2016 differently
All Storey got for this attack was a restraining order – just like ones he breached repeatedly against his previous partners.
Lesley McAuley said: ‘He was just left to roam the streets like the psychopath he was. He was walking the streets from being 14 years old because he knew how he could get away with whatever he wanted to do.
‘It’s unbelievable that someone has supervised him and didn’t look at his file and just spoke to him on a few occasions over the phone. He could say anything he wanted and they would just believe him.’
Ms McAuley, a mother-of-two, told police she feared Storey would kill her during an attack in July 2016
She added: ‘It makes me feel physically sick that there was nothing there, no protection for my daughter or grandchildren. I feel the probation service and CPS failed Kerri.’
The CPS admitted it should have handled the prosecution of Storey for the attack on Ms McAuley in October 2016 differently.
Jenny Hopkins, Chief Crown Prosecutor, said the CPS had met with the McAuley family to explain why they didn’t prosecute Storey for the attack.
She said extra training had been given to staff about prosecuting domestic abuse cases and about leading ‘victimless prosecutions’ where witnesses are reluctant to go to court.
Norfolk Police said it was committed to giving victims of domestic abuse ‘the best possible support’.
The report’s author Christine Graham said she hoped the review showed that domestic abuse was taken seriously by agencies in the area and lessons had been learned from Ms McAuley’s death.
The report also called on the Ministry of Justice to review staffing levels in the probation service.
It found that Storey’s case officer was overworked with a caseload of 192pc – twice what it should have been.
On Thursday the probation service admitted it did not have enough staff to do its job properly in this case.
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