THE shocking discovery of Victoria Cherry’s body in the boiler cupboard of a Bolton flat 15 months after she was last seen alive has prompted a review asking how her disappearance could have gone on for so long. The report’s findings have now been published and come to some damning conclusions.

A SERIES of failings led to delays in discovering the decomposing body of a woman in a boiler cupboard and prevented anyone being brought to justice over her potential murder.

A Domestic Homicide Review published today revealed that police and other agencies involved with Victoria Cherry and her partner Andrew Reade did not consider the possibility of domestic abuse and did not communicate well enough with each other.

Ms Cherry’s body was eventually found in a boiler cupboard at Reade’s Toronto Street, Bolton, flat in January 2017 – she had last been seen alive on October 6, 2015.

Reade was arrested on suspicion of murdering her, but the state of her remains meant there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him.

Instead, in June 2017, Reade was convicted of preventing the unlawful burial of a body and perverting the course of justice.

He was jailed for four years and four months.

A coroner recorded an “open” conclusion as the cause of Ms Cherry’s death could not be ascertained.

“The failure of agencies in contact with [Reade and Ms Cherry] to enquire about and share concerns in respect of [Ms Cherry’s] sudden disappearance contributed to the delay in discovering her body,” states the Domestic Homicide Review report.

“The delay in discovering the body meant that it was not possible to determine the cause of her death. If [Reade] did in fact murder her, the delay in finding her body enabled him to evade justice.”

Four months after the discovery of the 44-year-old mum-of-three’s body Bolton’s Be Safe Strategic Partnership decided to conduct a review into how organisations dealt with the couple in order to establish any lessons which can be learnt for the future. The independent review was led by retired police officer David Mellor.

It found that Reade’s previous history as a domestic abuser was not sufficiently recognised or information shared between agencies such as the former Bolton Integrated Drug and Alcohol Service (BiDAS), GPs, Bolton at Home, the National Probation Service and the Community Rehabilitation Company.

His potential risk to Ms Reade may have been “under estimated”.

Reade and Ms Cherry were both drug addicts and each had had involvement with a number of agencies over the years. But the review states that there was a culture of “silo working” where organisations did not share information.

“It is not known how widespread the silo working so evident in this case is,” says the report, which added that one contributor suggests it is partly due to austerity leading organisations to focus mainly on complying with internal policies and processes rather than looking at a wider picture.

To Ms Cherry’s estranged family and Reade’s friend, Reade was coercive and controlling with her, but he appears to have managed to hide the behaviour from the authorities.

“This case indicates a general absence of awareness of, and curiosity about, domestic abuse within a range of professional disciplines,” says the report.

Ms Cherry was last seen alive at a pharmacy to collect her methadone on October 6 2015 when a staff member noticed she looked very unwell.

But no action was taken and no alarm bells were rung when she did not return on subsequent days for her prescription.

Reade continued claiming her benefits for several months after her death until they were stopped by the DWP.

Again, they did raise the alarm when they could not contact her and the payments were stopped. “The ease with which [Reade] was able to conceal [Ms Cherry’s] death is a matter of concern,” states the report.

Although Ms Cherry, who is originally from the Preston area, and her family were largely estranged they did have periodic contact.

When the absence was longer than usual Ms Cherry’s mother reported her missing to Lancashire Police in October 2016.

“The early stages of the missing person’s enquiry were handled unsatisfactorily,” says the report, which says the force’s procedure stresses the importance of searching the place where a missing person was last seen. There was a repeated failure to search the Toronto Street flat.

The review also concludes that the force’s initial risk assessment gave insufficient weight to Ms Cherry’s vulnerability, the risk that Reade, who has a criminal record, posed to her and the likelihood that she had been the victim of a serious crime.

The flat was eventually searched and Ms Cherry’s body discovered three months after she was reported missing.

A series of 42 recommendations are made in the report for improvements by nine of the agencies involved with Ms Cherry and Reade and five multi-agency recommendations.

'A very tragic case'

RESPONDING to the review and recommendations. Chief Supt Stuart Ellison, chairman of Be Safe Bolton Strategic Partnership, said: “This is a very tragic case and on behalf of the partnership, I would like to express our sincere condolences to the family.

“We commissioned the review to see if there were any lessons to be learned to improve the way we work together to protect victims of domestic abuse. The panel’s findings and recommendations have been shared with all the agencies involved in the review. Clearly there are things that could have been done better.

“Be Safe has developed a comprehensive action plan to implement the recommendations and we will ensure that we continue to work together with our partners to minimise risks to victims of domestic abuse.”

Det Chief Insp Mike Gladwin, of Lancashire Police’s Public Protection Unit, added: “ We welcome the review and we participated fully with it

part of our commitment to learning and improving in any way we can to protect victims of domestic abuse.

“We recognise there are things that could have been done better in this case and we have introduced a comprehensive action plan to implement the recommendations.”

And Mike Robinson, associate director of governance and safety, at NHS Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group said: “We can confirm that all the recommendations that were assigned to the CCG, to improve our systems and process, have been completed and we will continue to monitor the implementation of the changes.”

Gemma Parlby, director of housing services for Bolton at Home, responded by saying: “We welcomed this review and along with our partner agencies we’re ensuring all necessary action is taken swiftly.

“We encourage anyone who is experiencing domestic violence or abuse, or concerned it might be happening in their neighbourhood, to contact us in confidence on 01204 328000.”

Timeline

TRAGIC Victoria Cherry was originally from Preston and the mum-of three led an unsettled life, addicted to heroin and suffering a number of health problems.

February 2012: Ms Cherry moved to accommodation for homeless adults in Blackburn and in January 2014 began a relationship with Reade, who also lived there and had a significant criminal history, including for domestic violence.

March 20, 2014: Reade took up a Bolton at Home tenancy at Toronto Street, Bolton, and Ms Cherry moved in with him. The pair registered with GPs and the town’s drugs services.

August 2015: Ms Cherry told her mother that Reade had assaulted her.

October 6, 2015: Ms Cherry was last seen alive when she visited a pharmacy to collect her methadone prescription.

October 7, 2015: Reade told pharmacy staff that Ms Cherry had left to live with her mother. A friend noticed her belongings were still in the flat.

October and November 2015: Reade sends texts messages to Ms Cherry’s daughter saying she has left him.

November 2015: BiDAS close Ms Cherry’s case due to non engagement.

December 2015: The DWP stops Ms Cherry’s benefits. Reade had been withdrawing cash from her bank account until then.

October 24, 2016: Ms Cherry’s mother reports her missing to Lancashire Constabulary.

January 16, 2017: Ms Cherry’s body is found and Reade arrested.