Killed by violent lover after police made spelling error: Blunder left ... - Mirror.co.uk

A spelling mistake led to police missing a chance to stop brutal Ian Hope murdering lover Sarah Gosling, a damning report revealed yesterday.

The error meant officers called to the couple's home on February 25 – just two hours before the killing – were not aware of Hope's long history of domestic violence.

His Tewkesbury Road address had been misspelled on the police log in 1999.

It meant when the details were typed correctly into the force's computer system it did not flag up his previous attacks.

The report said the blunder had "profound consequences" for mum-of-two Sarah, 41.

She was left with no blood in her body after Hope, 53, severed an artery in her chest with a single stab wound at the house.

Police had been well aware of Hope's campaign of terror – a week before the murder, he was ordered to go on a domestic violence course after cutting Sarah's head open with a rolling pin.

At about 5.40pm on February 25 two officers attended the house in Newcastle after neighbours reported shouting and papers being thrown out of the window.

The police, who did not run a check on Hope's name because the address was not flagged, took no action against him.

Instead they warned the pair about littering, the Independent Police Complaints Commission report said.

IPCC commissioner Nicholas Long said: "It is clear they were in an abusive relationship which ended in horrific circumstances. It is also clear Northumbria police were aware of the abuse and had been involved in measures to try to tackle it.

Cruel: Ian Hope who stabbed to death his partner Sarah Gosling at their home in Newcastle

 

"It is therefore tragic such an apparently simple error of misspelling a street name could undermine the positive work done by the police force and result in two officers not having the relevant information that might have assisted them to deal with one specific incident differently."

He added: "But the lack of information undoubtedly dictated a certain mind-set for the officers on that occasion and as a result they only identified the incident as being one of antisocial behaviour.

"This possibly resulted in their lack of diligence in making their inquiries.

"Tragically that specific incident was a precursor to Ms Gosling's murder. Although we can say there was a missed opportunity, we cannot speculate that if the officers had the information about the couple's history they would have identified an ongoing abuse situation and prevented the murder."

Northumbria police admitted there were "lessons to be learned".

Supt Steve Wade said: "Ian Hope had been arrested on four separate occasions for assaulting Sarah Gosling before he murdered her, with every effort having been made to secure his conviction."

Supt Wade added that the officers in February were called to a "neighbourhood dispute" and that Sarah had been "calm" and did not make a complaint of assault.

"Even if the officers had been aware of the domestic abuse history, there was still no reasonable basis to arrest Hope given the circumstances," Supt Wade said.

He added that the force had implemented the IPCC's recommendations including improving the computer system.

Hope was jailed for life two weeks ago for the murder. Sarah had left her husband and children, now aged 11 and 14, after meeting Hope on Facebook in 2009.

Sarah's brother Andrew Bernard said after the court case: "The irony of the name 'Hope' will be a sickening reminder of what he has stolen from Sarah and her family."