Card receipt found in bag could have led police to the killer of Gracie Spinks

The till receipt - with card details which could be traced back to the home of Michael Sellers - was inside a bag containing two large hunting knives, an axe and a note reading “don’t lie”.

It was found on May 6 last year - six weeks before Gracie was killed - by two walkers across the road from Duckmanton’s Blue Lodge Stables where she kept her horse Paddy.

However the bag and the vital piece of evidence linking Sellers with it was not followed up by police.

Gracie’s mum Alison Heaton - who describes the work leading up to Gracie’s death as “total failure of basic policing” - said: “Had the police investigated (the till receipt) at the time everything would have tied in.”

A coroner heard that on June 18, the day Gracie was killed - six weeks after the bag was discovered - she was found with a stab wound at the stables as a man was seen “running away”.

Sellers was found dead in a nearby field the same morning.

In February last year Gracie reported Sellers - her supervisor at eCommerce firm Xbite - to police after she saw him waiting for her at the stables - where she went daily to tend to the horse before work.

However the 24-year-old kept driving and called her parents in tears, “spooked” that he was in a new VW Scirocco - which she had told him was her favourite car.

She was told by visiting police officers they would speak to Sellers - however it was never relayed to Gracie or her family that Sellers told officers he was “in a relationship” with her.

Speaking about the receipt linking Michael Sellers with the bag, Alison said: “They waited until after Gracie’s death - had they investigated it before everything would have tied in.

“The fact that Gracie had made a complaint, the fact he waited for her at the field, that the police had visited him and he’d said they were in a relationship.

“All the dots would have joined up and he would have had to explain the bag of weapons.

“Had that been looked into on May 6 we wholeheartedly as a family believe that Gracie would still be alive.”

Gracie’s contact with Sellers began while working at Xbite.

Alison described how towards the end of 2020 she went for a meal with the Xbite supervisor in Sheffield.

The former lifeguard also visited his Sheffield home once and he visited her several times at the stables - walking with her as she rode Paddy.

However, after she made it clear to Sellers she was not interested in a relationship she was forced to block his phone and social media messages.

It is understood Sellers - said to have had a history of harassing employees - also sent messages to Gracie’s colleagues asking about her.

Speaking about the day Sellers turned up at the stables and her daughter spoke out to the police, Alison said: “He asked Gracie what her favourite car was.

“She said Thomas, her brother, drives a green Scirocco, and she said ‘I Iove that model of car’, ‘I absolutely love my brother’s car’.

“And then he turned up at work and said he’d spent £15,000 on this white Scirocco and she told me he had asked her if it impressed her.

“And she said ‘no’. She was quite a headstrong, confident person. She didn’t pussyfoot about.”

Gracie complained about Sellers to her employers the same day she saw the car at the stables. He was suspended and management at Xbite advised her to contact police.

However Alison believes if officers had spoken to other staff at Xbite then “alarm bells” would have sounded which could have made all the difference.

She said: “When the police came to our house they knew that he had been suspended.

“I was with Gracie when she sat with the police and she told them everything - she told them that morning work sent him home and he was suspended.”

Five Derbyshire Constabulary officers in the force had been served with misconduct notices for their involvement in the Gracie’s case.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct says it is now preparing its final report into the actions of Derbyshire Constabulary in the months leading up to Gracie’s death.

The IOPC added: “At its conclusion we will decide whether any of the five officers we have served notices on may have a disciplinary case to answer.

“We are also considering whether any learning has arisen for Derbyshire Constabulary from their contact with Gracie prior to her tragic death.

“Publication of our findings may be dependent on future discussion with the Coroner.”

A Derbyshire Police spokesperson said: “We continue to support and fully cooperate with the IOPC investigation into the circumstances leading up to the tragic death of Gracie.

“We are keeping the IOPC up-to-date with a number of improvements we have implemented in recent months and we would encourage all victims of stalking and harassment to report incidents to us for investigation.”

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