A woman was beaten to death by her abusive ex partner who she had had a restraining order against.
Angela Craddock, 40, from Warrington, was brutally attacked by her ex-partner, William Smart, on April 11, 2018. At the time of Angela's death Smart was on recall for breaching his licence conditions and a restraining order was in place.
At a recent inquest, Senior Coroner for Cheshire, Jacqueline Devonish, heard how the offender hounded his ex partner, calling her 160 times in the 39 days after his conviction, CheshireLive reports.
READ MORE: Two arrested after man ran from house covered in blood
Coroner Devonish, who has released a report to prevent future deaths, raised concerns that the correct staff at HMP Altcourse were not made aware of Smart's restraining order. In the document, addressed to HMP Altcourse, Ministry of Justice and HM Prison and Probation Service, the coroner highlighted areas that could be addressed to prevent similar deaths taking place in future.
She said: "Details of the Restraining Order were sent to HMP Altcourse and on receipt a paper copy of the conditions were placed in an envelope to be delivered to the Public Protection Department. This was never received so the relevant staff were not aware of the Restraining Order.
"Consequently, upon release on licence the community rehabilitation service were unaware of the breaches of the Restraining Order and were unable to include this information in the Offender Assessment System's risk assessment or the prison recall report and review, ultimately sent on to the police for the enforcement of the recall notice."
Coroner Devonish heard how Smart had initially been released from HMP Altcourse on April 3, with orders to contact the local community rehabilitation team.
When he failed to present himself to authorities, the National Offender Management Service was notified and the police were informed. However, due to a lack of resources, no patrol was deployed to bring Smart into custody.
Coroner Devonish has given the authorities 56 days to detail changes that they have made in order to prevent future deaths. But despite initial fears, the inquest found that William Smart was solely responsible for Ms Craddock's death, with authorities not to blame for the fatal attack.
Following the inquest, a spokesman for Cheshire Police said: "Our thoughts are with Angela's family at this time. We recognise the finding of the coroner’s court and will review their findings for any further learning.
"Violence against women and girls is a priority for the force and we have put a number of safeguarding plans in place for vulnerable women and men who are subjected to domestic abuse, whatever form that takes.
"Our focus on bringing offenders to justice and protecting the public is in our utmost thoughts when we are faced with domestic abuse and understand the impact it has on families who are affected. We work with partners to support and protect."
The Ministry of Justice has been approached for comment.
READ NEXT
Properties, cars and Rolexes seized from drug boss who netted £28million
'Mini tornado' spotted after boy in zorb ball swept into the air
