A coroner has called for a “fundamental review” of the process for monitoring sex offenders in the community following the murder of 19-year-old Leah Croucher.
Senior coroner Tom Osborne found Ms Croucher, who disappeared while walking to work on 15 February 2019, had been abducted and killed by Neil Maxwell following an inquest in June.
Ms Croucher – a black belt in taekwondo – may have tried to defend herself from a sex attack before she was killed, the inquest heard.
Her remains were not found until October 2022 in Furzton, Milton Keynes, in the loft of a house left empty during the COVID pandemic, following a tip-off from a maintenance worker.
Maxwell, who took his own life in April 2019, two months after Ms Croucher vanished, was convicted of sexual assault in February 2018 and was wanted for a sex attack in Milton Keynes the following November.
Mr Osborne said failings in his monitoring did not contribute directly to her death, but that it is “possible that the findings may have played a part”.
He has now sent a report to justice minister Lord Timpson warning “there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken”.
“Leah Croucher was unlawfully killed by a man who was subject to supervision by the probation service and the police,” he wrote.
“Despite that supervision he was in breach of the terms of his probation and was able to kill Leah when it was known that he was a predator and danger to females.
“There should be a fundamental review of the process for monitoring sex offenders in the community and the sharing of information between all agencies particularly the police and probation service to ensure that a similar death can be prevented.”
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Maxwell, a handyman who was the only person with keys to the property where Ms Croucher’s body was found, was assessed as medium risk after his conviction for sexual assault in February 2018, the inquest heard.
But it was later decided he should have been assessed as high risk.
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Maxwell failed to attend a number of probation appointments in 2018 and to avoid arrest for the other suspected sexual assault stopped using his phone and car.
Police believe he also lost weight and grew a beard to change his appearance.
Mr Osborne said the take-up and vetting of officers who use a system for sharing information called Visor was “woefully inadequate”.
He also found the risk Maxwell posed to the public was “underestimated and underreported” and that there was a failure to properly share information between police and probation.
