Police inbox for victims of violence not monitored

A woman who was held at knife point by her former partner has said it is disgraceful a police email inbox for reporting incidents of violence and abuse was not monitored for nine months.

Sadie Hopkins, 50, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, sent a message to West Mercia Police's violence against women and girls inbox after a chance encounter with her attacker, but did not get a response.

A BBC investigation discovered the inbox had not been checked, with 26 messages going unread.

The force's assistant chief constable has apologised.

Of the 26 emails the force received, dating between September 2023 and June this year, six required further action and have been allocated to a dedicated officer to progress.

Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Jones said there was no indication any of the women who had made contact had come to any harm.

She said: “I wholeheartedly apologise to those individuals who were expecting a response.

"It’s below the service we would expect of our officers and staff.”

West Mercia Police missed 26 emails that were sent to its violence against women and girls inbox

Ms Hopkins sent a message to the force after seeing her former partner at Shrewsbury’s railway station in June.

He was jailed for 32 months in 2015, for kidnapping and imprisoning Ms Hopkins in her own home.

A judge also issued an indefinite restraining order preventing him from contacting Ms Hopkins or setting foot in Shrewsbury after his release.

Ms Hopkins also reported the incident to the police non-emergency number 101 but said the call handler appeared “totally disinterested”.

She rang West Mercia Police daily until she was eventually told that the matter had been referred to British Transport Police.

“They’d done nothing for four days, nothing," she said.

"I didn’t know if he was in Shrewsbury, I didn’t know where he was.”

She told them she was frightened and hiding in her house. But she said “none of them appeared to give a damn.”

After reviewing the case British Transport Police said no further action was taken because her former partner was travelling for work and had stepped on to the platform in Shrewsbury to allow others to get off the train, which they said did not constitute a breach of his court order.

'Lip service'

On the West Mercia Police website the force said it was doing all it could "to understand women’s fears and concerns, to help them be safe and feel safe".

“They’re just paying lip service to it as far as I’m concerned,” Ms Hopkins said.

“They say they’ve learnt lessons, but they haven’t. They’ve got a dedicated page for women and girls and it’s not being monitored, it’s disgraceful.”

Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Jones said the force would "listen to the voice of victims"

Ms Jones said she was “deeply sorry” adding: “Sadie has not received the service she should have received and West Mercia Police have let her down.”

She pledged to “listen to the voice of the victims” to ensure the force was not only “deeply professional in its response, but incredibly compassionate too”.

A report published in July by the College of Policing and National Police Chiefs' Council warned violence against women and girls had reached "epidemic levels" with at least one in 12 women expected to experience some type of violence each year.

In February 2023 the Home Office classified violence against women and girls for the first time as a national threat to public safety.

It means police forces should prioritise their response to this sort of violence in the same way they do terrorism and serious organised crime.

Ms Hopkins said things needed to improve.

“The police need to listen. If a woman says she’s scared, it will be for a genuine reason. They need to listen and they need to respond,” she said.

“They don’t respond until it’s too late... when a bad thing has already happened and somebody’s gone, somebody’s hurt.”

Additional reporting by Mary Litchfield