Mum of Ashleigh Hall makes plea to Facebook
Mar 11 2010 The Journal
Police visited his home on January 6, 2009 to discuss a traffic matter but he was not in. Different officers were supposed to visit him a month later in line with his sex parole checks but again he was not in. It was not until September last year – a month before he murdered Ashleigh – that the alarm was raised.
Merseyside Police, the force responsible for monitoring Chapman, also faced criticism and has now referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
The force waited nine months before issuing a national wanted alert after realising Chapman had vanished from his Kirkby home early last year.
IPCC Commissioner Naseem Malik said she fully understood the family’s anger at their belief Chapman should not have been able to kill Ashleigh.
And she promised a “thorough review“ of how Chapman was monitored and what the force knew about him and when.
In a statement, she said: “My sympathies go out to Ashleigh’s family and friends.
“I cannot imagine how devastating Ashleigh’s murder must have been for them and I fully understand their anger at the belief that Chapman should not have been in a position to commit this terrible crime.
“Our investigators will undertake a thorough review of how Merseyside Police monitored Chapman, what intelligence and information was available about him and what actions were taken when it was established he was missing.
“It is important that if there are lessons to be learned from this situation they are shared with police forces nationally.
She said it was “disappointing” the case had just come to the IPCC’s attention, adding: “It should have been referred to the IPCC as soon as Merseyside Police became aware of the issues last year.
“I appreciate our investigation is too late for Ashleigh’s parents. They have lost a daughter they loved in horrific circumstances.
“All I can say to them is that if it is possible for any small sliver of hope to come out of this it will be for lessons to be learned that might prevent such a situation happening again.”
