A woman murdered by her former lover had her mobile phone seized by police just days earlier after reporting him for domestic abuse and was left without any means of calling for help, an investigation has found.

Katrina O’Hara, 44, a hairdresser, was stabbed to death by Stuart Thomas at a barbers in Blandford Forum, Dorset, in January 2016. Thomas, 49, a married father and self-employed builder, was convicted of her murder and sentenced to a minimum 26 years in prison.



Eight days before she was murdered, O’Hara’s phone was taken by Dorset police after she reported an incident in which Thomas allegedly threatened to kill both her and himself. He was arrested, interviewed and released on bail.



After his release on bail and before he murdered her, O’Hara had reported Thomas to police for potential breaches of bail, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.



The IOPC investigation identified “a serious issue” in the fact that when police took her phone, as they investigated alleged harassment by Thomas, the mother-of-three was “left without a means of communication”.



“Her family felt this increased the risk she faced, and it is clear she was left afraid and vulnerable by not being able to contact police immediately if she needed to.”



Police chiefs across England and Wales have since agreed victims of domestic abuse-related crimes should immediately be given alternative means of communication, such as temporary mobiles, when their own phones are seized for investigative purposes, the report said.



The IOPC, formerly the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), made recommendations to improve Dorset police’s response to domestic violence and harassment. On a number of occasions when O’Hara contacted Dorset police, officers failed to “take appropriate action in a timely manner”, said IOPC operations manager Graham Beesley.



He added that officers also did not “properly consider the seriousness of non-violent risk factors, including the escalating nature of the incidents between Ms O’Hara and Stuart Thomas in the months leading up to her murder”.



As a result of misconduct hearings against two officers, one received management advice and the other a written warning. Two other officers were being dealt with for “unsatisfactory performance”.



O’Hara’s children, Kyle Stark, 27, Dean Stark, 25, and Morgan O’Hara, 18, said they were “deeply upset by the failings identified” which highlighted her death could have been prevented.



Their “faith in policing has been shaken to the core”, and they were disappointed stronger action had not been taken against the officers concerned, they said in a statement through solicitors Hudgell.



Paying tribute to a “beautiful mum, daughter, sister and grandmother” who was a “pillar of the community”, they added that her case was “not unique”. Their hope was “that her death will serve as a wake-up call to the government and police forces across the country to not brush domestic violence issues under the carpet”.

