Police failed abuse victim murdered by boyfriend who hid body in suitcase inside wheelie bin for months, coroner rules

A chief constable has admitted his force ‘should have done better’ after a coroner criticised officers' failure to protect a mother-of-three who was murdered and hidden in a suitcase by her coercive partner.Matthew Waddell was jailed for life with a minimum 32-year term in 2023 for killing Sarah Albone, 38, at her home in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.After launching a ‘frenzied and horrific attack’ on her, he stuffed her body in the suitcase and put it in a wheelie bin, while sending messages from her phone to friends and family to conceal what he had done.The ‘toxic’ relationship began in 2020 and Waddell’s terrifying coercive and controlling behaviour meant Ms Albone tried to end it just two months later.Officers were called to her home several times from August 2021 but Waddell remained in her life and her body was found in February 2023, three months after she was last seen.Bedfordshire and Luton senior coroner Emma Whitting has now stated in a damning ruling that Ms Albone was the victim of an ‘unlawful killing to which police failures in recognising and responding to the escalating domestic abuse materially contributed’.She found the risk to Ms Albone was so pronounced in the 16 months before her murder that the state had a duty to protect her - but failed to do so.Records didn’t take into account the gravity of the abuse or sufficiently assess the risks she faced. This included an occasion when Waddell, now 38, was found lurking in her garden. The body of Sarah Albone, 38, was stuffed in a suitcase which was then dumped in a wheelie bin by her coercive on-off boyfriend Matthew WaddellMs Albone was ‘devastated’ when officers closed their investigation and was left with no confidence in the force, allowing Waddell to increase his control over her, the inquest heard.She was last in contact with the force when a neighbour reported domestic violence – but officers who attended arrested Ms Albone for ‘attacking’ Waddell.The inquest concluded officers hadn’t recognised her ‘violent resistance’ and enquiries were suspended, despite a referral to multiple agencies.Ms Whitting concluded Bedfordshire Police had failed to assess the risk Waddell posed, pursue an evidence-led prosecution for coercive and controlling behaviour, or continue criminal investigations and investigate concerns raised by the neighbour.She is sending a prevention of future deaths report to Chief Constable Trevor Rodenhurst over her concerns with the way his force deals with applications under Clare’s Law, under which police can release information about an individual’s history of violence.It will also raise questions about the ‘limited nature of their disclosure to MARAC’, or Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference, where agencies share information to protect victims at high risk of harm.Describing Ms Albone’s murder as a ‘tragic and horrific crime’, Mr Rodenhurst said: ‘We fully accept that there were opportunities where we could and should have done more to protect Sarah.‘While nothing can undo the pain caused by her death, we are committed to making every effort to continue to improve our response and professional practice.’ Waddell, now 38, was jailed for life with a minimum 32-year term in 2023 after he was convicted by a juryWaddell, who was convicted in September 2023, tried to blame his 5ft 1in victim in court, claiming he had snapped after suffering ‘years of abuse’.Jurors heard a sick confession note in which he wrote: ‘I stamped on your head so many times I have caved your head literally but you were still breathing.‘I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around your head. There was blood everywhere... I felt nothing.'A post-mortem examination found a 'frenzied and horrific attack’ had been carried out, resulting in 'catastrophic injuries'.The cause of death was airway obstruction caused by catastrophic injuries to her head and she had broken ribs and injuries to her body.Ms Albone, who had multiple sclerosis, is believed to have been attacked while getting in or out of bed. The brutal assault included stamping, kicking, punching and the possible use of a weapon.One Christmas Eve, with her body just feet away in the wheelie bin, Waddell sent a video message to a friend while watching TV.He said: 'This is what Christmas is all about - a big glass of wine and James May talking about f***ing different types of cheese.' A police officer stands outside Ms Albone's home in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, after her body was foundProsecutor Martin Mulgrew told the trial at Luton Crown Court that scenes of crime officers found the purple suitcase wrapping in industrial cling film under the remains of a carpet in the bin.Ms Albone was found in her pyjamas in the foetal position.A large amount of blood had soaked through the carpet and onto the bedroom floorboards. Blood splatter was on the wall near a double socket and radiator.Mr Mulgrew said that after her murder, Waddell set out in 'a sophisticated manner' to lay false information about Sarah's whereabouts.'To throw family, friends and the police off the scent he sent text messages from her phone pretending to be her. He pretended she was in a hospital in London and did not want to see anyone,’ he said.'He withdrew cash from her account and began selling her belongings online.'The couple had first met in November 2020. Because Ms Albone had multiple sclerosis and a neurological disorder, she became dependent on him.But Mr Mulgrew said the relationship was not healthy. In January 2021, she ended it because she felt he was emotionally controlling. Officers prepare to enter the property, where the bin containing Ms Albone's body had stood for several monthsHowever, in April that year the relationship resumed. She suffered a stroke in August and in September she ended the relationship again but Waddell would return repeatedly.Ms Albone called police and he was arrested for harassment but he was released on police bail with a condition not to contact her. He ignored it and visited her home.'He had developed an obsession and could not accept she would not be part of his life,' the prosecutor said.In December 2021, Ms Albone reported him for assault. In a statement she catalogued his controlling and aggressive behaviour towards her. She complained he watched pornography and contacted other women.Her step-sister Corinne Foster described the relationship as 'toxic' and told police she had not been in contact with Ms Albone since November 24, although they would talk regularly before then.The following February Waddell, pretending to be Sarah, replied to Corinne's anxious text messages saying: 'I am okay. I am in hospital in London. I am home in the beginning of March.'Asked why 'Sarah' had not told her, he replied: 'Sorry babe. A big part is my mental health. They are putting a plan in for me.'Mr Mulgrew said: 'This piqued Corinne Foster's suspicion. It was because of the way the texts were written. Sarah Albone would never have called her babe. The tone and the grammar did not match.' Following the coroner's damning conclusion, Bedfordshire Police Chief Constable Trevor Rodenhurst said: 'We could and should have done more to protect Sarah.'When she recorded a phone conversation with Waddell he told her that Sarah could only text from the hospital because there was something wrong with her phone.He told her: 'It has been really surreal - I can't go along every day without her. It has been hard.‘She is in the best place possible. They are putting a plan in place for her mental health treatment outside the hospital.'In the witness box as Waddell claimed he was the victim of abuse, telling jurors: 'It was like a curtain came down. It is a feeling like you would not believe. You literally go numb. You stop feeling.'Sentencing the killer in September 2023, Judge Michael Simon said the jail term reflected the ‘unrestrained brutality of the attack’.Addressing Waddell, he added: ‘It is difficult for anyone to conceive the terror Ms Albone must have experienced and how frightened and helpless she must have felt against you.’Speaking after the sentencing, one of Ms Albone's sisters, Nikita Clayson, said: ‘She was found in a bin, disposed of like a piece of rubbish, like nothing.’In a statement, her family said they ‘would never understand why or how anyone could do such a horrific act in such a callous way’.Bedfordshire Police said today that it had taken action in recent years including increasing its use of Domestic Violence Protection Notices and improving technology to identify risks sooner. A specialist advisor had also been appointed.Safeguarding visits were taking place and it was preparing a campaign to tackle violence against women, the force added.