By Sheila Mckenzie-
Shameful Lincolnshire police ignored complaints from a domestic abuse victim seven times, but were questionably cleared by the police watchdog.
Espirito Santo, 23, from Grantham, reported partner Julio Jesus for attacking her while on bail for another assault the same day. Surprisingly, police were slow to act in defense of a helpless woman who desperately sought help. The case raises questions about the seriousness of police in addressing issues of domestic violence, despite multiple cases of deadly consequences in the past as a result of dangerously abusive men.
Jesus, who bears a name that contradicts the principles of the original historical bearer of the name, was charged with manslaughter, which was dropped over lack of evidence linking the attack and her death, and later charged with assault and jailed for 10 months.
A report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which was leaked to the New York Times, detailed seven calls from Ms Espirito Santo about her partner between May 2019 and April 2020.
During her final 999 call on 8 April 2020, she reported being attacked hours after Jesus was released on police bail for an assault earlier that day in which he pinned her down and pushed his arm against her throat.
The 999 call handler deemed the call non-urgent because Jesus had left the home and told Ms Espirito Santo to ring back on the non-emergency 101 number.
Eight minutes later, after the non-emergency call handler answered, all she could hear were the distraught cries of a baby.
When police forced entry to Ms Espirito Santo’s flat, they found her slumped on the sofa cradling her six-month-old son.
A post-mortem examination found Ms Espirito Santo had died from a pre-existing heart condition and that there was a possible link between the stress of the assault and her heart failing.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it did not believe it could sufficiently prove “an evidential link” between the assault and her death and dropped the manslaughter charge.
A spokeswoman for the CPS said: “Julio Jesus was originally charged with the manslaughter of Daniela Espirito Santo on the basis that his actions that day triggered a fatal complication from a pre-existing heart condition.
“As the case neared trial, and following review of further expert medical reports, it became apparent we could not prove an evidential link between Ms Santo’s tragic heart failure and what occurred that day between her and Mr Jesus.
“We contacted Ms Santo’s family to explain the way the evidence in this case led to this conclusion. Our thoughts and sympathies are with her loved ones at this difficult time,” the spokeswoman added.
Jesus was instead convicted for two assaults and jailed.
Charly Price-Wallace, a friend of Ms Espirito Santo’s, has called for greater protection for victims of domestic abuse who are scared to press charges against their partners.
“They had record of seven incidents which contained 10 attacks that Dani had disclosed and yet didn’t see a pattern or do anything about it.
“We need to make sure her name means something – that she didn’t die in vain.”
Copies of police reports in the IOPC investigation show how the abuse escalated over the course of a year from threats to kill, to controlling and coercive behaviour and strangulation.
The IOPC also found that Lincolnshire Police had not failed in any of their standards during multiple contacts with Ms Espirito Santo.
However, the IOPC said there was a “learning recommendation” in relation to the need for a force-wide written policy on when to transfer calls directly to the non-emergency 101 service rather than asking people to call back themselves, and any actions to be taken by 999 operators when taking that action.
In a statement, released yesterday, Detective Superintendent Suzanne Davies, head of professional standards at Lincolnshire Police, said: “We welcome the opportunity to talk through the findings of the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) report but because that report has not yet been officially published and an inquest is pending it is not possible at the moment to offer comment.
“We have reached this decision after having consulted with the coroner in Lincolnshire who will hear this case and he has advised us that responding to points raised in the IOPC report which, as we state, has not yet been officially released, could cause a risk of prejudicing proceedings at the inquest into Ms Santo’s death.
“The inquest has been opened and adjourned and proceedings are active so we must be mindful of allowing the coronial process to complete its fact-finding without influence or prejudice.
“A domestic homicide review has been commissioned, which is a review of the circumstances in which the death of an adult has, or appears to have, resulted from violence, neglect or abuse from a person with whom they were related, had an intimate personal relationship, or with whom they shared a household, completed by an independent author.
“We will be more than happy to answer further questions as and when we can but our primary focus is ensuring that all available reviews, hearings, and forums that can look into the circumstances surrounding Ms Santo’s death are allowed to be undertaken without influence or prejudice.”
A spokeswoman for Lincolnshire Police said it would not be possible to comment until the conclusion of an inquest into Ms Espirito Santo’s death.
A Domestic Homicide Review, which is a multi-agency review of the circumstances in which a person’s death has, or appears to have, resulted from violence, abuse or neglect by a person to whom they were in an intimate personal relationship, is under way.
The IOPC said it obtained witness statements from more than 20 officers and staff directly involved in those incidents and reviewed police records and body-worn camera footage.
They said “following careful analysis of the available evidence,” they found no indication that any officer had behaved in a manner that may have breached police standards of professional behaviour and would justify bringing disciplinary proceedings’
They added that” the actions of two officers were such that there was learning identified for both in relation to some of their interaction with Mr Jesus”.
The explanation from the IOPC falls short of stating how the statements from 20 police officers absolve the police of blame in this tragic case.
It needs to be probed further to ensure the IOPC has not let negligent police get off lightly.