A police officer yesterday said he did not regret taking the mobile phone of a domestic abuse victim later murdered by her violent ex-boyfriend.
Sergeant Adam Aggas seized Katrina O’Hara’s mobile for evidence after she made a complaint that Stuart Thomas had threatened to kill her, an inquest heard.
It meant the mother-of-three, originally from Bangour, West Lothian, would not have been able to contact police immediately had Thomas come after her.
Thomas, now aged 53, killed Katrina, 44, seven days after he was released from police custody having been arrested for harassment.
He turned up at the barber shop where the hairdresser worked in Blandford, Dorset, and after she tried to flee.
Aggas told Katrina’s inquest that taking her phone was the right thing to do. He said: “Her mobile phone was seized as it contained evidence of harassment.
“In order to obtain the best evidence, the mobile phone could be analysed to show not only the messages received by her but also the messages that she had sent back.
“I don’t regret that decision one little bit.
“We needed to analyse the phone for her own safety and were unable to do that straight away.
“We took an emergency contact number for her daughter-in-law, who she was staying with at the time, as well as her landline and home address.”
Since Katrina’s murder in January 2016, most police forces now issue domestic abuse victims with replacement mobile phones.
The inquest continues.
