Police failings are found by a Bedfordshire and Luton coroner to have materially contributed to the unlawful killing of Sarah Abalone, who was murdered by her boyfriend, according to reports. The case includes allegations that her body was hidden for months in a suitcase inside a wheelie bin.
The coroner, Emma Whitting, is reported to rule that officers did not recognise escalating domestic abuse. The Daily Mail says her findings describe how those shortcomings had a significant impact on the outcome. The coverage also links the coroner’s decision to concerns about how domestic abuse risks were identified and responded to before Abalone’s death.
Across the available report, the central focus is the coroner’s attribution of responsibility in part to police actions or inaction, alongside the account of how the killing and disposal of the body are alleged to have occurred. The emphasis is on the coroner’s legal conclusion regarding police failures rather than on new details of the killing itself.
