Police officers keep their jobs despite refusing to respond to 999 call as mother was knifed to death | Mail Online

Police officers keep their jobs despite refusing to respond to 999 call as mother of three was knifed to death

Last updated at 11:50 PM on 10th March 2011

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• They refused to leave anti-prostitution operation despite being closest officers

Two police officers refused to respond to a 999 call as a mother of three was stabbed to death by her partner - because they were on an anti-prostitution operation.

The pair were closest to the house where Louise Webster was knifed last year, but claimed they could not leave the operation they were on.

One of them also went to look at houses for sale while on the same anti-prostitution duties the night before Miss Webster's murder, and  the pair had not recorded any crime on the six hours they were on duty the night she was killed.

Stabbed to death: Louise Webster was murdered by her partner Martin Ashby. Two police officers today kept their jobs despite refusing to go to respond to a 99 call as she was stabbed

Ms Webster's partner Martin Ashby was last week jailed for life a after being convicted of her murder in Roade, Northamptonshire in January last year.

Today the Independent Police Complaints Commission said two police officers called to Ms Webster's home put others in danger by refusing to attend.

The pair have both since received final written warnings for gross misconduct.

Medical experts found Ms Webster would have died even if they had attended, but the IPCC said the officers put others in danger by refusing to attend.

Commissioner Amerdeep Somal said it was 'deeply disturbing' that they chose to ignore the 'basic and fundamental' principles of police work to protect the public and preserve life.

The IPCC said Northamptonshire Police were called to Ms Webster's home at 12.11am on January 18. Screaming and shouting could be heard and it was confirmed someone had been stabbed.

Its report said the two PCs involved were on an anti-prostitution operation in Northampton town centre, but at 12.12am and 12.15am the GPS device in one of their radios put them in the immediate vicinity of the stabbing incident.

At 12.18am the control room asked them to attend as they were closest. But the officer who answered refused, saying they were on an operation and their Inspector would not want them to leave their assigned duties.

An officer on his own in Towcester responded to the call at 12.20am and arrived nine minutes later.

Only then could the paramedic, who had to wait near the scene for five minutes for police to arrive, go into the house and treat Ms Webster, the IPCC said.

The watchdog's investigation found that the officers were not prohibited from responding to emergency calls, and their notebooks showed they had not dealt with any prostitution-related crime or other incidents during their six hours of duty.

They claimed they followed a suspicious vehicle from Northampton to Roade but could not get its registration - but the inquiry found no independent evidence to prove or disprove this.

'Put others in danger': a lone officer who was further away from the scene was forced to go to Miss Webster's stabbing. A paramedic had to wait outside her home until the police arrived

The IPCC said medical experts said Ms Webster's injuries meant she would have died even if the two officers had attended, but they would have been able to detain Ashby and help those who were waiting for the emergency services and were in potential danger.

The watchdog said a misconduct hearing also heard that, the night before the murder, one of the officers had been on the same anti-prostitution operation, but travelled to Roade to look for houses for sale.

The IPCC said both officers were found to have cases to answer for gross misconduct, which were subsequently proven at a full powers misconduct hearing. Both have now received final written warnings.

Ms Somal said: 'The police work to protect the public and preserve life.

'I find it deeply disturbing that these two officers, who were in the immediate vicinity, chose to ignore these basic but fundamental principles.

'It is unacceptable that one of them chose to go on a personal errand only the night before whilst being paid public money to fulfil his role as a police officer.

'It makes it all the more incredulous that they chose not to respond to an emergency call because the operation they were assigned to was seemingly so important that they would not have been released from it by their senior officer.

Deputy Chief Constable Suzette Davenport said: 'During the course of this investigation, the IPCC identified possible misconduct in the actions of two officers who were initially requested to attend the 999 call received from the home address of Ms Louise Webster.

'As a result of this, both officers were subject to a misconduct hearing on 13th January 2011.

'Both officers were found guilty of gross misconduct and given final written warnings.'

via dailymail.co.uk