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On 22 June 2021, Assistant Coroner for Hertfordshire, Alison McCormick, concluded the inquest into the death of Katie Locke. Miss Locke met Carl Langdell on a dating website. They went on a date on Christmas Eve 2015 when he murdered her.
The inquest investigated the circumstances of Katie’s death and, in particular, the management of her murderer by five public bodies in the nine months before her death.
The murderer, who had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder with narcissistic and antisocial traits, was known to two police forces, two NHS Mental Health Trusts and the Probation Service, each of whom had information relevant to his risks to women. The Coroner found that there were significant gaps in the information available to each public body and there was insufficient sharing of information between agencies to enable a fully informed assessment of his risks.
The Coroner returned a conclusion of unlawful killing and has confirmed her intention to send a Prevention of Future Deaths report setting out concerns relating to the Potentially Dangerous Person process in Hertfordshire.
Mark Thomas acted for the Chief Constable of Hertfordshire Police, Cicely Hayward acted for the National Probation Service and Peter Laverack acted for the Chief Constable of Avon & Somerset Police.
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