‘Murdered’ woman’s family slam police for ‘bodged’ investigation as body is discovered

Kelly Faiers’ family have criticised Avon and Somerset Police for their investigation and communication as a body in the search for a wanted man is discovered

The family of a woman found dead at a sex offender’s home have criticised police after news of a body being found in the search for him was shared publicly without warning.

Kelly Faiers’ relatives also say that when they shared their concerns under the police force’s Facebook status on the discovery in the search for Richard Scatchard, comments were turned off.

The family of Kelly Faiers said they have been left unsupported by Avon and Somerset Police (Avon and Somerset Police)

Scatchard went missing six months ago after Ms Faiers died at his home in Minehead on 15 October. After a nationwide manhunt for the 70-year-old wanted for questioning in a murder investigation, a body was found inside a caravan near Cleeve Hill in Watchet, on 4 April.

Despite a history of drugging and abusing women, Scatchard was only questioned at his property by Avon and Somerset Police on the day of Ms Faiers’ death, and then disappeared when officers returned the following day in October last year.

A body believed to be Richard Scatchard has been found in a caravan (Avon and Somerset Police)

During a previous interview with The Independent, Ms Faier’s family said they had to resort to Google to discover Scatchard’s previous convictions, and that police “failings” to arrest him at his home had left them and members of the public at risk.

Following the discovery of the body, the family claim they were initially told it was found in shrubbery, and that they were asked not to share details with wider family, despite Avon and Somerset Police publicising details the following day.

In a statement to The Independent, Ms Faiers’ family said: “One of our family liaison officers updated us this morning to advise that the body had been found in shrubbery and had been there for a long time so visual identification was not possible at this stage.

“Avon and Somerset [Police] have issued a press release without our prior knowledge which advised that the body was found in a caravan not shrubbery and that were are being kept informed and supported by our family liaison officers.

“We would like to clarify that as a family we dispute this claim of support.

Scatchard was a convicted sex offender who had previously drugged women (Avon and Somerset Police/PA) (PA Media)

“One family liaison officer is not responding to telephone calls and the other is currently on annual leave.

“We have been provided with misinformation in relation to where the body was found and have been left unsupported with family and friends finding about the latest discovery through Avon and Somerset’s press release rather than through ourselves.”

They added that after they queried the statement released on the force’s Facebook page, the comments section was turned off.

“Unfortunately this is a reflection of the general standards and lack of support that we have received since the very beginning of this bodged enquiry when Avon and Somerset failed to arrest Scatchard for questioning following the death of our mother,” they said.

Her family had previously said that Ms Faiers embarked on a relationship with Scatchard after moving to Weston-super-Mare, and would see him a few times each month.

Ms Faiers had come out of a marriage of more than 20 years when she met Richard Scatchard on a dating app (Faiers family)

Last public sightings of the “loving” mother show her and Scatchard out for the evening. He later called the ambulance service to his home address on Blenheim Road at 4.15am on 15 October, reporting Ms Faiers was critically ill. She was pronounced dead by paramedics.

He was considered a danger to women, particularly in relationships, and had previous convictions for sexual offences and was wanted on recall to prison.

A post-mortem examination to determine the cause of Ms Faiers’ death was inconclusive, with further tests carried out, with her death being treated as suspicious by police.

After police spoke to Scatchard on 15 October, he travelled to Watchet with the last confirmed sighting of him on CCTV in the Swain Street area at about 9am on 16 October.

He was then seen near his home address in Minehead by a member of the public at about 10am on 16 October before disappearing.

Police had search remote locastions in West Somerset and Minehead for Scatchard (Avon and Somerset Police)

Over the course of the investigation, police received around 100 unconfirmed reported sightings of Scatchard, mainly in the west Somerset area.

In response to the family of Ms Faiers’ recent statement, a spokesperson for the police force said: “A decision was taken yesterday, with neither family liaison officer on duty, for a Detective Sergeant who has had prior contact with Kelly’s family to update them about a body being found to ensure they learned of the latest development from us at the earliest opportunity, even though formal identification has not yet been confirmed.

“We asked the family to not publicise this at that point, because we had not yet informed all the other relevant parties at that point in time.

“Following issuing of a public update regarding the discovery of a body, we received contact from Kelly’s family to express their dissatisfaction this had been issued. We called and apologised to them that this process had not been properly communicated with them.”

Avon & Somerset Police have referred the family complaint to the IOPC (Avon and Somerset Police)

They added that a decision to turn off Facebook comments around the discovery of the body was made as there had been messages speculating on the cause of death, which they felt was “inappropriate and potentially distressing”.

Given that this was a live police investigation, it was believed the “most sensible course of action” was to disable comments and an explanation was posted on their Facebook page.

On December 20, the family of Ms Faiers made a complaint about the police response to her death to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The force voluntarily referred the complaint to the IOPC on 4 January.

An IOPC spokesperson said: “We can confirm our investigation into Avon and Somerset Police’s response to the death of Kelly Faiers is ongoing.

“It follows a complaint referral from the force in January this year.”