Police protection inquiry after waitress’s murder

May 10 2008 by Ben Schofield, Liverpool Daily Post

AN INVESTIGATION is under way to find out if murdered Polish waitress Monika Szmecht was given enough police protection in the days leading up to her death.

The 21-year-old was stabbed and set alight by her former boyfriend last June.

Ex-soldier Anthony Clarke was jailed for life last week after being convicted of her murder.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission will now investigate how Merseyside Police responded to allegations of domestic violence made just before her death.

Officers from Merseyside Police were in contact with Ms Szmecht as she raised concerns about Clarke’s behaviour in the days leading up to her murder.

Police became concerned about how they handled the complaints in December last year.

After the case was referred to the IPPC, a commissioner decided an investigation should be launched but had to hold off until after the conclusion of the criminal case.

Mike Franklin, IPCC Commissioner for the North West, said: “Our investigation will examine whether officers observed the correct policies and procedures and whether Ms Szmecht was afforded sufficient protection.”

During the murder trial, the prosecution told how days before her death, Clarke had attacked Miss Szmecht in a jealous rage and she had attempted to extort £1,000 out of him in exchange for not going to police.

But when she met him to collect the money, he imprisoned her in a cage in his van. He held her there for four hours before driving to a country lane in Rainford where she was stabbed six times and set alight.

But Ms Szmecht, a waitress originally from Kloda, near Leszno, Poland, managed to crawl for help and named her killer to paramedics before she died.

Clarke had denied murder but was convicted.

He was aided by his best friend, Philip Savin, 29, of Chester Avenue, Bootle, and later his uncle, David Clarke, 46, of Walton Village, Walton, admitted lesser charges and took the stand against Clarke.

Also an ex-soldier, Savin was jailed for six years for kidnapping, criminal damage and assisting an offender, as well as a previous theft from 2005.

A Merseyside Police spokesman said: “We can confirm the force has looked into the police response to issues of domestic violence in the case of Monika Szmecht.

“The matter was voluntarily referred to the IPCC and we support their decision.

“Whilst that enquiry is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

benschofield