Gracie Spinks inquest: Police admit failing woman killed by her stalker

Gracie Spinks, 23, was murdered by a former colleague who was "obsessed" with her

A police force has said it failed a woman who was stabbed to death by a former colleague who had stalked her.

Derbyshire Police has apologised to the family of Gracie Spinks, after a jury at her inquest concluded she was unlawfully killed.

Michael Sellers murdered the 23-year-old in Duckmanton in Derbyshire on 18 June 2021 after she went to look after her horse. Sellers then killed himself.

Miss Spinks's family said police had displayed "total incompetence".

Several months before her death, Miss Spinks had made a report to police about Sellers being "obsessed" with her and waiting for her near to the same field where she died.

Two dog walkers also found a bag of weapons belonging to Sellers, but police did not investigate the bag and instead treated it as "found property".

'The supervisor killed Gracie'

Speaking after the jury gave its conclusion, Det Supt Darren De'ath said: "During the inquest it has been clear that there were significant failures throughout both Gracie's report of stalking and the way in which the finding of the bag of weapons was dealt with.

"Put simply, as a force we failed Gracie - and for that I can only offer my own, and the force's, most sincere apologies."

The 10 members of the jury wore pink and purple wristbands in Miss Spinks's memory.

Referring to Sellers as "the supervisor", the foreman said: "It was the supervisor that killed Gracie."

In their findings, the jury listed a number of failings by police, but said they could not conclude that these contributed to Miss Spinks's death.

In response, the family's solicitor Sajad Chaudhury said: "The family's opinion is that their failings did [contribute]. However, we respect the decision of the jury and the court."

Speaking outside Chesterfield Coroner's Court, Miss Spinks's father Richard Spinks said: "Derbyshire Police let Gracie down, let us down and we hope that they do not let anyone else down.

"They do need to change how they operate from the top to the bottom."

Speaking before the inquest ended, he said: "They just seemed to want to get the job done, deal with the bag or deal with the complaint and shelve it and forget about it. There was no investigation.

"It's just total incompetence."

Richard Spinks claimed police wanted to "shelve" his daughter's concerns

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) previously found five police officers had a case to answer for misconduct.

The police constable and sergeant who dealt with Miss Spinks's report about Sellers both had disciplinary meetings held by Derbyshire Police in November 2022.

However, the allegations were found not proven.

The two police constables who dealt with the bag of weapons also had disciplinary meetings in November 2022.

'A kid's game'

They were found to have breached standards of police professional behaviour for duties and responsibilities, and both received written warnings.

No action could be taken against the sergeant who supervised the two constables, because he retired.

The IOPC said the three officers all "told us they did not think the contents of the bag were concerning", and one remarked the items had the hallmarks of "a kid's game".

Matthew Kewley, assistant coroner for Derby and Derbyshire, has said he will issue a prevention of future death report to the chief constable of Derbyshire Police, which will include his matters of concern and will ask the force to take action.

He said he would also issue his report at a national level, due to his concern about there being an absence of stalking advocates at other police forces.

Miss Spinks had complained to e-commerce firm Xbite about supervisor Michael Sellers

The inquest has heard Miss Spinks met Sellers when she started working at Xbite, an e-commerce firm based in Chesterfield, while furloughed from her job as a swimming instructor in April 2020.

Sellers had been working there since 2015 and had previously given unwanted attention to seven other female colleagues, but Miss Spinks was not aware of this.

In their findings, the jurors said Miss Spinks and Sellers "shared a brief friendship which was not romantic".

They said Miss Spinks had then "gently ended that friendship" on 16 December 2020.

"The supervisor did not accept Gracie's decision," the jury said.

"He continued to contact her and abused his position at work by asking others to spy on her."

Anna White reported the bag of weapons to police, saying she was particularly concerned about the note inside

On 4 January 2021, Sellers parked in a layby near to where she kept her horse Paddy, which had "distressed and upset" her, according to the jury.

She told Xbite, which suspended Sellers and conducted a formal investigation, which resulted in him being dismissed.

Miss Spinks then reported Sellers to police.

The jurors noted her report was initially "marked as a real and immediate risk", and an investigation was undertaken.

This resulted in a "verbal conversation" with both Miss Spinks and Sellers, and "the stalking case was closed down as low risk," the jurors said.

Miss Spinks was murdered after going to look after her horse Paddy at stables in Duckmanton

The police failings listed by jurors, described by them as "serious", included the following:

• Sellers' disciplinary file should have been sought from Xbite

• A "warning" should not have been given to Sellers - the inquest heard this could have triggered his behaviour to escalate

• Officers should have conducted an investigation in relation to the bag of weapons

• Police should have visited the location where the bag was found

• Proper consideration should have been given to seeking the public's assistance with identifying the owner of the bag, for example by using social media

• Proper consideration should have been given to how an M&S receipt in the bag could have been used to identify the owner

The IOPC investigation highlighted several "failings and missed investigative opportunities".

These included:

• No national database check on Sellers

• No rationale provided for why he was not arrested once identified as a suspect

• No written record of any consideration of a stalking prevention order

• Police not requesting disciplinary investigation records, despite Sellers being dismissed from the firm where he and Miss Spinks worked, and allegations made by other female employees