The Metropolitan Police says it’s “extremely sorry” for failures in protecting two domestic murder victims from harm.
The Metropolitan Police says it’s “extremely sorry” for failures in protecting two domestic murder victims from harm.
Two Black vulnerable women, Naomi Hunte and Fiona Holm, were killed 17 months apart within a few miles of each other in South London.
Last month 66-year-old plumber Carl Cooper was jailed for life for the double murder.
He was described in court as callous, controlling and abusive.
The body of his second victim has never been found, despite a family appeal and the offer of a £20,000 reward.
But behind the successful conviction lies a catalogue of failures which both families believe could have saved the lives of their loved ones.
Cooper was the prime murder suspect for Naomi Hunte, who was found stabbed to death in her home in South London in February 2022.
He was out on bail when he befriended the woman who was to become his second victim, Fiona Holm. She’s described by her family as warm, very kind, very caring but was autistic, suffered ADHD, and had the mental age of a teenager.
She reported him for domestic violence, complaining he had threatened her with a crowbar and stabbed her with a screwdriver. The allegations were never investigated and she was never warned that Cooper was a murder suspect.
Her daughter Savannah told Channel 4 News:
“If the police had done their job properly they could have saved my Mum’s life a number of times. She reported him and in the bodycam footage… my Mum is describing what type of man Carl Cooper is and she’s not describing him as a nice man. She’s describing him as a really nasty, horrible man that shouldn’t be around women. If the police officers that actually attended the scene, if they were taking in what she was saying and actually did research on Carl Cooper, then they could have treated the whole case different.”
The family say the fact she was Black played a part in the police decision not to treat her mother’s allegations seriously.
They reported her missing in July 2023, but were left to conduct the search themselves. Every day they went to Carl Cooper’s flat, as he went about getting rid of evidence.
Her disappearance was initially graded by police as only medium risk and it took 12 days for her case to be referred to a specialist homicide team. Cooper was arrested not long after and it was only then the family learnt about his background.
Naomi Hunte was Cooper’s first victim. She too had reported him to police for domestic violence, not once, but four times within a year.
Each one of those was recorded on police body-worn video.
She told police that he was constantly “coming to my house”, “ringing off my phone”, “kicked the door” and “stalking me”.
At one point she reported the harassment, saying Cooper had said to her: “I am watching to see who’s coming here” [to your home].
“I am really scared now,” she told police.
She was found stabbed to death a few months later.
Her father Basil Hunte lost his only child. He believes his daughter’s murder could have been prevented. “A lot more could have been done,” he said.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement:
“We again extend our sincere condolences to their families as they continue to grieve for these two beloved women.
“We have always been clear that we made mistakes when dealing with allegations against Carl Cooper. For those mistakes we are extremely sorry.”
A domestic homicide review is underway involving two local authorities, Lewisham and Greenwich, the South London and Maudsley NHS trust and the Metropolitan Police.
The families want a more wide ranging and independent one.
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs told Channel 4 News: “The domestic homicide review must uncover what went wrong… on average it takes domestic abuse victims over two years to seek support from professionals.
“My research found that 43% of victims who told a professional about their abuse told the police first. This is second only to health professionals. It is therefore vital that the police treat all domestic abuse disclosures with the sensitivity and seriousness that they deserve.”