A coroner has ruled that police failures contributed to the unlawful killing of Sarah Albone, a 38-year-old mother of three who was murdered by her coercive partner, Matthew Waddell, and hidden in a suitcase inside a wheelie bin at her Biggleswade home. Bedfordshire and Luton senior coroner Emma Whitting found the risk to Ms Albone had been so pronounced in the 16 months before her death that the state had a duty to protect her, but Bedfordshire Police failed to properly assess Waddell's danger, pursue a coercive control prosecution, or act on concerns raised by a neighbour. Chief Constable Trevor Rodenhurst has accepted the force "should have done better".

Waddell, now 38, was jailed for life with a minimum 32-year term in 2023 after being convicted of the murder, which a post-mortem found involved a "frenzied and horrific attack" causing catastrophic head injuries and death by airway obstruction. Officers had been called to Ms Albone's home repeatedly from August 2021, including once when Waddell was found lurking in her garden, yet on her final contact with police she was herself arrested after a neighbour reported domestic violence. Her body was discovered in February 2023, three months after she was last seen. The coroner is sending a prevention of future deaths report raising concerns over the force's handling of Clare's Law applications and its disclosures to the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC).