Murder victim's family mounts legal challenge

The family of a woman who was murdered by her boyfriend is planning a legal challenge against the police and probation service, in the belief more should have been done to protect her.

Michaela Hall, 49, from Mount Hawke, Cornwall, was killed by Lee Kendall on 31 May 2021. Kendall, 45, was jailed for life with a minimum 21-year term for her murder.

On the fifth anniversary of her death, campaign group the Good Law Project (GLP) said it was acting for Hall's family in a legal challenge against Devon and Cornwall Police and the probation service.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said Hall's murder was a "horrific crime" but it would be "inappropriate to comment on live legal proceedings".

Jim Colwell, Deputy Chief Constable for Devon and Cornwall Police, said the force "immediately addressed recommendations made by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)".

He added: "We recognised some areas of learning in formal admissions within the inquest which have been implemented, and this work continues."

At an inquest in 2024, Cornwall coroner Andrew Cox said there had been "shortcomings and errors" by probation services before Hall's death.

Hall's 18-year old son Shaun said: "They made too many mistakes that led to her death.

"If those failures hadn't happened, my mum could still be here today.

"Now that I am 18, I want to tell my mum's story to help prevent this from happening to other families."

DCC Colwell said: "Following an inquest which concluded in March 2024, the coroner acknowledged in his findings that no police actions were attributable to Michaela's death.

"He found that Michaela was unlawfully killed and, tragically, she had been fatally assaulted before officers were called to her home on 31 May 2021.

"The inquest heard witness evidence from a number of agencies, including police officers who attended Michaela's home on the night of 31 May and on 1 June in 2021, as well as senior officers."

Hall had started a relationship in 2019 with Kendall, an alcoholic and former drug addict, while working with a prisoner resettlement charity.

According to GLP, Kendall had 47 previous convictions across 78 offences and was linked to many more.

Authorities had recorded 16 assaults by Kendall against Hall and he had been released from prison for assaulting her two weeks before the fatal attack, the GLP said.

On the night of Hall's death, two police officers were dispatched to her house.

There had been numerous call-outs before and they saw no sign of a disturbance and heard nothing on this occasion.

Body-worn camera footage recorded one of the officers talking to the police control room, saying how they had visions of "her lying there with him covering her mouth".

Believing they did not have the power to force entry, the officers left and returned to base.

She was found dead by her father the next morning.

Cat Knight, solicitor at GLP, said: "With one woman killed in the UK every three days, Michaela's tragedy is all too common.

"The criminal justice system is failing women and putting them in danger. It's time for the police and probation service to treat domestic abuse as a threat to life and tackle it with the urgency it demands."

A spokesperson for the MOJ said: "We are investing up to £700m in probation by 2028 to strengthen public safety."

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