Gracie Spinks: Derbyshire police cannot currently answer questions about their handling of Duckmanton tragedy

Derbyshire police say they currently cannot answer any of our questions in relation to the Duckmanton tragedy.
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Gracie Spinks, 23, sadly died in a field near to Staveley Road at around 8.40am on Friday.

Officers believe that Gracie, who was from the Chesterfield area, was killed by a man she knew, who was later found dead.

Picture kindly submitted by the family of Gracie Spinks.Picture kindly submitted by the family of Gracie Spinks.
Picture kindly submitted by the family of Gracie Spinks.
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He has been identified as 35-year-old Michael Sellers, from Sheffield.

In a statement on Monday night, Derbyshire Constabulary said it had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) ‘because we had contact with Gracie earlier this year’.

“We can also confirm that a member of the public found a bag containing weapons in Duckmanton in May and handed this in to police,” the statement added.

The Derbyshire Times asked the force why it had contact with Gracie earlier this year, and whether Michael Sellers was known to police.

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We asked if police investigated after the bag was handed in.

We also asked the force if it wanted to respond to concerns raised by a number of our readers.

However, a force spokesperson said they cannot answer any of our questions ‘at the moment’ after its referral to the IOPC.

They said: “There has been a lot of speculation in the community in recent days as to what happened that day and we are working to find answers for everyone involved.”

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An IOPC spokesperson said: “We will assess the referral and decide on our level of involvement, if any, in due course.”

Angelique Foster, Derbyshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, said it would be 'inappropriate to comment at this time as this is a live investigation’.

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