Police apologise to family of woman found dead at convicted sex offender’s home
A police force has apologized to the family of a woman found dead at the home of a convicted sex offender after a watchdog identified failings in its initial investigation
Kelly Faiers, 61, died on October 15, 2023, at the address of Richard Scatchard, 70, in Minehead, Somerset.
Officers inspected the property and spoke to Scatchard, who is convicted of sex offenses in which he drugged his victims.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation found that despite officers’ concerns about Scatchard’s behavior and their consideration of the arrest, they were ultimately not advised by the CID about it.
The following day, it was decided that Miss Faiers’ death would be treated as murder and officers were sent to visit the address again, but found Scatchard had fled.
His body was later found in a caravan near Cleeve Hill in Watchet on 4 April 2024.
Ms Faiers’ family made a number of complaints about the behavior of Avon and Somerset Police following her death.
On Tuesday the IOPC said it found the service provided by the force “unacceptable” in relation to three of the seven complaints.
The actions and decisions of the three officers fell short of expectations, but there was no evidence to suggest they breached police standards of professional conduct.
In response, a spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police apologized to Ms Faiers’ family and said their concerns were being taken seriously.
“We would like to apologize to the family of Kelly Faiers for the impact of some of the decisions taken by Avon and Somerset Police during our investigations into her death,” he said.
“Ms Faiers’ death in Minehead on October 15, 2023 was initially thought to be non-suspicious.
“The following day an operational decision was taken to treat the death of Miss Faiers at Richard Scatchard’s home as suspicious and to investigate it as a murder investigation.
“This update was not communicated to the family for another 48 hours, in part due to the unavailability of trained family liaisons to meet Ms. Faiers’ family and deliver the update in person.
“The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) determined that the level of service was unacceptable due to this delay and that an alternative option could and should be considered to ensure the family knew this information sooner.
“Similarly, we are aware of the additional distress experienced by Ms Faiers’ family in learning about Mr Scatchard’s criminal record through an online search and failing to disclose during initial police response how early he had arrived at the address and been spoken to by officers.
“This was information that needed to be communicated privately to Ms. Faiers’ family sensitively and at an appropriate time.
“The IOPC also found that the level of service was unacceptable in terms of the decision not to arrest Mr Scatchard at the scene of Ms Faiers’ death.”
The spokesman said it would not be appropriate to comment further on this decision due to the coroner’s ongoing proceedings.
He added that no behavioral or underperformance issues were identified with any police officers or staff, but no organizational learning was identified.
Following Miss Faiers’ death, Avon and Somerset Police warned that Scatchard posed a serious risk to women he associated with and regularly used dating apps.
He had previous convictions for sexual offenses where he drugged his victims to abuse them.
As well as being recalled to prison, Scatchard was also wanted in connection with the murder investigation into the death of Ms Faiers.
The IOPC said in a statement that the investigation found “the level of service provided to Kelly Faiers’ family was unacceptable, following which we found there were failures in the force’s response to her death.”
IOPC director Derrick Campbell said: “Our thoughts and condolences remain with the family of Kelly Faiers on the loss.
“Avon and Somerset Police could and should have done better in the tragic circumstances of this case.
“We found that the service provided by the police was unacceptable for three officers whose actions and decisions fell short of expectations.
“Whilst we did not find any evidence to suggest that they may have breached police standards of professional conduct in a way that would justify a disciplinary investigation, we determined that officers should reflect on and learn from the shortcomings we identified and will undergo a reflective practice review process (RPRP).”
Scatchard and Ms. Faiers went out on the evening of October 14, 2023.
At 4.15am on October 15, he called paramedics to his home address to inform them that Ms Faiers was in a critical condition. He was pronounced dead by paramedics.
An autopsy to determine the cause of Ms Faiers’ death was inconclusive but is being treated as suspicious by police.
The cause of Scatchard’s death was also reported to be inconclusive, but police said they were not aware of any suspicious circumstances surrounding the incident.
