Woman's rape and murder 'could have been prevented'

The rape and murder of a vulnerable woman could have been prevented without police understaffing and high probation case loads, a coroner has said.

"Happy and bubbly" Elizabeth McCann was strangled by sex offender Simon Goold on 25 August, 2022 at his flat in Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside.

A Prevention of Future Deaths report said it was "probable" that if information had been shared on Goold's escalating risk, the 26-year-old would not have died.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said its sex offender management unit had doubled in size since the murder while the Probation Service said it had made changes.

Alison Mutch, senior coroner for South Manchester, wrote in the report that GMP had known about low staffing levels in its sex offender unit for "many years" but had decided to manage with numbers "far below" what was needed.

Goold, 52, had been on life licence having been released from prison in 2019 after serving a sentence for rape, sexual assault and wounding.

An inquest into Ms McCann's death in April heard that Goold was known to pose an increased risk in circumstances involving "alcohol use, lone females, intimacy and rejection".

Ms McCann met her killer while they were both enrolled at the Health and Wellbeing College, run by Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, which catered for people with mental health difficulties.

The college had agreed to take some referrals from the Probation Service - but both parties failed to set up a system for how risk would be managed.

Ms Mutch noted how in July 2022 Goold had drunkenly touched and tried to kiss another woman from the college at a pub in Ashton.

The woman reported the incident to the college, but a senior manager failed to recognise Goold's risk and "spoke to him informally".

The trust apologised to Ms McCann's family and its medical director Dr Simon Sandhu told the BBC an independent review of the college is underway.

In April 2022, Goold had told his probation officer that a woman he wanted a relationship with had turned him down, but nothing was done with that information and no "professional curiosity" was shown by police or probation staff.

Ms Mutch wrote: "It is possible that this lack of action by Greater Manchester Police and probation contributed to Elizabeth’s death.

"It is probable that had there not been a failure to share the July 2022 incident which was caused by the previous failures Elizabeth McCann would not have died on the day she did."

In a statement, GMP said a "full review" had taken place.

The Probation Service said it had apologised to Ms McCann's family and had since stopped referring offenders to outside services such as the college without sign-off from a senior manager.

The inquest was told a "significant number" of police forces were struggling to adequately staff their sexual offender management units, "posing a risk to communities".

The Home Office said it had "strengthened the regime" for managing registered sex offenders.

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