A woman who was found dead in her Belfast home had reported to police that she was the victim of a violent crime in the weeks before her death, the North’s Police Ombudsman has said.
Mary Ward (22), was found dead at the property in Melrose Street on October 1st. A murder investigation has begun following “extensive investigations” by PSNI detectives, the force said.
Ms Ward is the fourth woman to be murdered in Northern Ireland in six weeks.
The PSNI has referred the case to the Police Ombudsman’s office “following a review of our previous engagement” with Ms Ward. “Whilst at this time there is no suggestion of individual criminality or misconduct we are nonetheless concerned about our organisational response,” said the head of the PSNI’s public protection branch, Det Chief Superintendent Lindsay Fisher.
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In a statement the Police Ombudsman’s office said that following Ms Ward’s murder, it received a referral from the PSNI on Sunday. “We have completed our initial review and have now commenced an independent investigation,” a spokesperson said. “In the weeks prior to her murder Ms Ward reported to police that she had been the victim of a violent crime. Our investigation will focus on the police response to this report. We offer our deepest condolences to Mary Ward’s family.”
Det Chief Insp Foreman, who is leading the murder investigation, said that while it was at an early stage and “we are working to establish the exact circumstances, we believe that Mary was last seen alive on Wednesday, September 25th. We are keen to speak to anyone who may have seen or been in contact with Mary on or around that date.”
He asked for anyone with information to contact police.
The police officer said the police’s thoughts were “first and foremost with Mary’s loved ones, who have been devastated and are struggling to come to terms with this tragic loss”.
“Specialist trained family liaison officers continue to work with the family supporting them through this difficult period,” he said.
Det Chief Superintendent Fisher said the murder of Ms Ward was “absolutely appalling”, and in six weeks the families of four women had been “shattered forever by meaningless violence”.
“As a police service we recently revised our Tackling Violence against Women and Girls action plan and adopted the new national framework to align our response to this violence with that of terrorism and serious and organised crime. The level of violence and loss in Northern Ireland demands nothing less. We are absolutely determined that we will be relentless in our pursuit of the perpetrators,” she said.
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