Police issue statement after inquest into death of man stabbed to death while walking dog in Sheffield
Police have said they are committed to learning from the tragic death of a Sheffield man who was stabbed in a random attack while walking his dog in Sheffield.
At Sheffield Medico Legal Centre yesterday, the family of Roger Leadbeater said police had ‘failed on every level’ after senior coroner Tanyka Rawden highlighted problems that ultimately led to the 74-year-old’s death.
Roger suffered 57 stab wounds and a number of other injuries in a random attack while walking his beloved springer spaniel, Max, in parkland off Shortbrook Close Westfield, on Wednesday, August 9, 2023.
It was revealed throughout the course of the inquest, that his attacker - Emma Borowy, who was being detained under the Mental Helath Act at the time - had absconded from supervised leave and headed to see friends in Sheffield.
However, information about the escaped mental health patient wasn’t shared between Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and South Yorkshire Police (SYP), with Mrs Rawden raising concerns about how information between both forces was handled.
Now, a spokesperson SYP has said the force ‘accept the learning opportunities’ presented during the inquest as they prepare to implement changes.
Detective Chief Superintendent Laura Koscikiewicz, Head of Crime, said: "First and foremost, I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to Roger’s family. The inquest into the circumstances surrounding Roger’s death has been difficult for those who knew and loved him, and our thoughts remain with them at this time.
“We fully accept the learning opportunities highlighted during the inquest and that changes should have been made sooner around the handover of missing people to other agencies, to ensure key information is passed on. We are sorry that these processes were not in place at the time and we are committed to delivering continuous improvement around missing people investigations to ensure this does not happen again.
“We have now introduced a new handover process in force, which will ensure key relevant information is passed onto partner agencies when a missing person is passed over to them. This will help to ensure we are collectively able to better understand risks and safeguard vulnerable people, as well as staff working across all agencies.
“We will now ensure the further points of learning raised within the coroner’s findings and the Prevention of Future Deaths report are fully implemented in order to deliver further organisational learning.”
Mrs Rawden said during the inquest that she was ‘unimpressed’ with how both GMP and SYP handled proceedings, highlighting that documents she had requested were not shared with her and no reason why was given.
She also said that a new information handover policy at SYP was only introduced after she criticised the force in court, and said they had not considered the national problem
In her position as coroner, she will be producing a ‘Prevention of Future Deaths’ report to send to both forces, as well as national policing bodies like the Home Office and College of Policing.
Angela Hector, Roger’s niece, said the former special educational needs bus driver was killed in a ‘brutal’ attack that was ‘like a horror film you cannot switch off’.
She continued: “I ask those who were in positions of trust – Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust, GMP and SYP - Emma Borowy put her trust in you to keep her safe and well. The public put their trust in you to protect us.
“You all failed on every level.
“Roger will never come home, that outcome cannot change. But you must make sure no other family suffers this devastation. You must make sure lessons are learned. You must make sure that for once accountability leads to effective action.
“That is the only justice left for Roger and the only way to honour his memory.”