Police anti-stalking unit shows Chesterfield's Gracie Spinks' death “could have been avoided”, says dad

Richard Spinks made the comments after visiting Cheshire Constabulary’s Harm Reduction Unit, which has been in operation since 2015.

Since their daughter’s death dad Richard Spinks and mum Alison Ward have been pushing for other police forces to put more resources into protecting victims from stalkers.

Richard described how at the force’s anti-stalking unit police and other specialists work on cases side-by-side in the same office.

Speaking about the unit, he said: “We were just bowled over with the success of all the things they showed us.

"They have about a dozen people all in the same room, psychologists, probation, an advocate, a coordinator, a manager and an IT guy.

"They’re all there in the same room, they can talk to each other and they’re not emailing different departments.

"It’s very cohesive and really works well.”

In November a three-week inquest into the death of Gracie found Derbyshire Constabulary had made “serious failings” investigating the case of stalker Michael Sellers before he killed the 23-year-old on June 18, 2021.

Failings included officers’ lack of understanding of stalking policy, their failure to complete stalking risk assessments, gaps in the force’s records management system which make risk harder to identify, absence of notes and detail in crime records and failure to investigate dangerous weapons found by the community.

During his visit to Cheshire Constabulary Richard was shown a tagging device fitted to stalking suspects, together with a key fob victims are given which bleeps when perpetrators are within a certain distance.

The tag was the first ever GPS tag add-on to a stalking protection order (SPO) – secured by Cheshire Constabulary in January this year.

It means that perpetrators can be tracked before they are prosecuted, as SPOs are civil orders frequently put in place to protect victims up until that point.

Speaking about Gracie’s case, Richard said: “From what we understand, if Gracie had lived in Cheshire, on just the initial 101 call, she would have got an SPO and a tag for Michael Sellers.

"The whole thing could have been avoided – it makes you realise the inadequacy at the time and just shows you how far we’ve come really with the changes that are being made in Derbyshire."

Since coroner Matthew Kewley raised a number of ongoing concerns with the force about Gracie’s case Derbyshire Police has outlined a number of measures to improve its handling of stalking cases.

They include:

- More through risk assessment processes

- Upgrades to a records management system which allow stalking suspects to be linked with specific locations and better identifying risk

- A new re-emphasis on the importance of note-taking

Ultimately, Richard and Alison want the Cheshire model to be replicated throughout the country.

Cheshire Constabulary’s harm reduction unit began to form in 2015 and was led by Detective Constable David Thomason following several domestic homicides related to stalking behaviours.

He had identified as far back as eight years ago that the law surrounding stalking was insufficient in managing risks and preventing stalking.

As well as David the unit consists of three constables, a forensic psychologist, two clinical practitioners, two staling advocates and a probation officer.

Richard added: “It took eight years to build up to what it is in Cheshire and it’s not going to happen overnight.”