BREAKING NEWS: 2 Police Agencies Failed Mom Who Was Forced to Swallow Wedding Ring, Then K*lled by Estranged Husband: Inquest. giang

Authorities failed a mother of five in England whose estranged husband abused her for years before murdering her in 2023, an inquest has found.

Lucy-Anne Rushton, 30, of Andover, Hampshire, was killed in June 2019 from injuries she sustained when her estranged husband, Shaun Dyson, 28, kicked and stomped on her at her home, according to the BBC.

In Dec. 2019, Dyson pleaded guilty in Winchester Crown Court to murdering Rushton, 30, the BBC reports. He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 17 years, according to a statement from Hampshire Police.

Now a Winchester Coroner’s Court inquest into Rushton’s death found that authorities from the Dorset Police and Hampshire Constabulary failed her, according to the Andover Advertiser and a statement from Gold Jennings, which represented Rushton’s family. 

“Prior to her death, Lucy had been subjected to a prolonged period of serious domestic abuse as well as controlling and coercive behaviour perpetrated by Mr Dyson,” says Jennings’ statement.

Rushton and Dyson met in 2010. Their relationship was “abusive from the start and marked by incidents of extreme violence and death threats,” the statement says.

During Dyson’s 2019 trial, jurors heard how Dyson forced Rushton to swallow her wedding ring after an ex-boyfriend reached out to her, the BBC reports.

The jury concluded that two departments failed her, according to the inquest, which cited two incidents: one in Bournemouth in 2018 and one in Hampshire in 2019.

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In September 2018, witnesses at a hotel in Bournemouth called police after they said they saw Dyson assault Rushton, the statement said.

“CCTV captured the assault, but officers did not check the footage or speak to witnesses,” the statement said. “An assessment conducted at the scene graded the risk to Lucy as ‘standard.'”

Jurors at the inquest heard from the officers at the scene, who said that if they had reviewed the CCTV, Dyson would have been arrested and that Lucy’s risk assessment would have been “medium” or “high,” according to the statement.

The second incident cited at the inquest took place in May 2019, when Rushton’s brother Luke told Hampshire police that Dyson was allegedly sexually and physically abusing his sister.

“Luke gave police copies of graphic photographs depicting this abuse,” that Dyson allegedly took and shared with others, according to the statement. “Luke told officers he was very concerned about Lucy’s safety, that she may be reluctant to speak to officers because she was ‘petrified’ her children may be removed and that Mr Dyson was controlling of his sister.”

Police initially wanted to arrest Dyson, but did not when Rushton denied her brother’s allegations about Dyson.

“Despite Luke’s warning about her denial, her account was taken at face value and no further investigative steps at all were taken,” the statement said. “The matter was closed by police less than 24 hours after it had been reported.

“The jury heard from the officer who spoke with Lucy that she accepted that she wasn’t sufficiently experienced to visit her. DCS Fiona Bitters, Hampshire Police’s strategic lead for domestic abuse, told the inquest that her officer could have been more ‘probing’ with Lucy.”

Rushton was killed three weeks later.

Her mother, Myra Simpson, said, “Lucy was failed by professionals who could have stepped in to help,” according to the statement. “Her death has broken our family, and I miss her every day. I hope that the police and other agencies involved have learned something from our tragedy.”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.