Worthing murder victim's family want inquest to quiz Sussex Police over "failure to protect"

The family of a murder victim from Worthing, whose killer’s conviction took five years, have said they're going to ask a new inquest into her 2011 death to consider if Sussex Police failed to protect her properly. The request comes from relatives of Susan Nicholson, who was 52 when she became one of two victims of Robert Trigg. After a long investigation that ended in court in 2017, Trigg received a 25-year sentence not only for the murder in 2011, but additionally for the manslaughter of Caroline Devlin in 2006, who was 35 and also from Worthing. The original inquests into both women’s deaths concluded they’d lost their lives either through natural causes, or by accident. Susan Nicholson’s family claim that Trigg was brought to justice only because they had not believed the results of the original verdict. Now, her relatives hope a new inquest into Susan’s death, following Trigg’s conviction for murder, might become a broader investigation into the behaviour of Sussex Police leading up to the day of her killing. At the centre of the family’s complaint is their belief that Sussex Police “failed to protect” Susan, which breached her right to life under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, transposed into English law by the Human Rights Act 1998. The police committed this breach, the relatives said, by failing to protect their daughter from Trigg, who officers knew to be abusive. In their evidence, the family said police had been called to reports of violence at Susan’s flat, six times in the weeks before her death. They also claim officers were already aware that Trigg had a long history of violence against women, causing one former partner to require hospital treatment after an attack. Susan’s parents, Peter and Elizabeth Skelton, said a court’s decision allows them to bring a judicial review of the choice by the West Sussex Senior Coroner to hold only a short inquest into the murder, not a fuller procedure that would examine a possible breach of the Human Rights Act. But, as a judicial review approaches, the family has begun a crowdfunding campaign because they said Sussex Police have indicated they’ll claim their legal costs from Susan’s parents if the police’s challenge to dismiss the review succeeds. Additionally, they’ve claimed the man convicted of her murder has also argued the appeal should be dismissed, because police staff did their job properly. Trigg also argues for another review of his responsibility for Susan’s death, though this would not be an appeal against his criminal conviction. Legal representatives for Susan Nicholson’s family said: "The behaviour of Sussex Police, in this case, is bad news for victims of domestic violence. "After Trigg’s conviction, a Sussex Police officer visited Susan’s parents to apologise to them. "It is incredible that Sussex Police now seek to avoid a full inquiry into whether Susan was adequately protected, and to intimidate Susan’s parents into withdrawing their challenge. "It suggests that they are determined not to learn lessons from Susan’s death." Susan’s father said: "I do not believe Sussex Police did enough to protect Susan. "They had all the information about Trigg’s history of violence against Susan and other women. "They knew that Caroline had died while in bed with him. Even after Susan’s neighbour called the police and they found Susan with injuries to her face, they didn’t see that he was a danger to her." He continued: “We want to ask the officers what they did to protect Susan, and we had hoped that Sussex Police would want to ensure their officers are alert to the dangers faced by victims of domestic violence, and are protecting them properly. “We are hurt and disappointed that they have chosen to fight our challenge instead, and that they want us to pay their legal costs if they lose.” More Radio approached Sussex Police for their response to the forthcoming judicial review into the inquest into the death of Susan Nicholson. They replied: “This matter will be the subject of Judicial Review and we are therefore not in a position to comment at this time.” More Radio is continuously dedicated to providing a quality news service on-air and online, reporting local stories that matter across Sussex. If you enjoyed reading this story, then check out our home page at moreradio.online where you can find the latest from the county, along with features and competitions from our presenters, as well as listening to the station live. You can also sign up to our news alerts to receive updates on new stories. Simply click on the bell at the bottom right of the home page. This will then allow a pop-up which will ask if you would like to receive alerts. Press ‘allow’ and you’re all signed up! You can also follow us on Facebook and on Twitter.