Review says lessons to be learned after son killed mother

A review into the death of a Lincoln mother has highlighted the demand for more robust interventions from agencies faced with victims who are unwilling to engage with them or accept support.

The report, although withholding their names, focuses on the murder of 72-year-old Margaret Krawcewicz at her flat on St Botolphs Crescent in Lincoln on October 12, 2012.

Her son Kazik Pasierbek was later convicted of her murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment in October 2013.

An independent Domestic Homicide Review was commissioned by the Lincolnshire Community Safety Partnership to look at practice between agencies in the years leading up to the death of Krawcewicz.

The investigation, following Home Office protocol, brought together all the agencies which had been involved with the victim and perpetrator, and asked them to provide detailed written records of their contact with the family.

Deputy Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police, Heather Roach, told The Lincolnite that between 2006 and 2009, 63 incidents varying in scale were reported, and that 11 agencies were involved in attempting to resolve the “chaotic” relationship.

Police and the 10 other agencies were aware of Pasierbek’s drug and alcohol dependencies and he had also been prosecuted and imprisoned on more than one occasion.

Adult social care and children’s services had been involved with the family at different times for two decades prior to the murder.

From 2009 onwards, nothing was reported to any of the agencies before the murder three years later.

The report concludes that the murder could not have been predicted by the agencies.

Pete Moore, Chair of the Community Safety Partnership, said: “The independent author has concluded that the death was not predictable at the time and it highlights the challenging and changing situation with those involved not wishing to engage with agencies or accept support.

“However, better assessment and exploration of risks as well as more robust challenge in engaging with victims might have prevented this tragedy.

“It’s important that we undertake reviews of this nature and look for areas of improvement. While we can never guarantee that tragedies like these will never happen – if someone wants to cause harm to someone else then there is only so much agencies can do to stop them – we can ensure the most robust, effective procedures are in place to mitigate the risks.”

Recommendations that have been approved and implemented include:

• Improved guidance to staff and records retrieval systems to ensure assessments are based upon full information and historic records are accessed and utilised
• Improved inter-agency information sharing and domestic abuse multi-agency guidance for shared risk management
• A review of the referral process
• Review quality assurance and look at previous cases to put best practice guidelines in place for future cases
• Implementation of Domestic Abuse training for all agencies on referral and risk assessment, including e-learning for domestic abuse awareness

Tony McGinty, Chair of the Domestic Abuse Strategic Management Board, added: “Thankfully tragedies of this sort don’t happen often but it’s important we review these cases when they do to make sure improvements are made to practice.

In many cases like this, people don’t see themselves as a victim and while it’s never easy to engage with these people, they should be identified as a victim and protected as much as possible.

“It shows that victims come in all guises, not just the traditional ‘partners’, and we must be alive to all cases.”

Roach, McGinty and Director of Adult Care at Lincolnshire County Council, Glen Garrod, also revealed that a new multi-agency safeguarding hub to be based in Lincoln will be introduced in the county later this year.