Aliny Godinho: Police 'regretful' over failings before murder

Aliny Godinho was murdered by her ex-husband in front of their young daughter in 2019

A police force has apologised over failings which a coroner says contributed to the murder of a mother.

Aliny Godinho, 39, was stabbed to death by her ex-husband Ricardo Godinho while on the school run in Stoneleigh, near Epsom in Surrey in February 2019.

A coroner concluded her death was "more than minimally contributed to" by Surrey Police.

Earlier the force agreed there were failings, adding it was "deeply regretful" and was "truly sorry".

During the inquest, Surrey Coroner's Court heard the attack happened in just 17 seconds as Mrs Godinho held their young daughter's hand.

In July 2019, Godinho was found guilty of murder and possessing an offensive weapon and jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years.

Aliny Godinho's last movements were captured on CCTV as she walked with her daughter to collect her son from school on the day she was killed

Surrey Coroner Richard Travers said: "I found a number of very significant failings on the part of Surrey Police in their response to Aliny's complaint and the unfolding events thereafter."

Mr Travers listed multiple failings including failing to respond to reports of escalating conduct from Mrs Godinho's ex-husband in the days before her death, failing to recognise she should have remained high risk and not following domestic abuse procedures.

Particular criticism was levelled at one officer, PC Diane Walker, whom the coroner said had "formed a view at a very early stage that Ricardo Godinho was unlikely to harm Aliny" and noted a "very significant failure to keep an open mind".

Ricardo Godinho was jailed for a minimum of 27 years for his wife's murder in July 2019

In a statement released earlier, Det Supt Juliet Parker said: "We agree there were failings on the part of Surrey Police in how her case was handled. Opportunities to safeguard Aliny were missed and for that we are deeply regretful.

"We welcome today's conclusion and accept the findings that there are areas of improvement for us as an organisation."

The coroner imposed a regulation 28 report on Surrey Police to prevent future avoidable deaths and has made recommendations, the force has 56 days in which to show changes have been made.

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