THE family of murder victim Angela Wrightson have spoken of their shock at discovering how chaotic and tragic her life was in the months leading up to her violent death.

Niece Rachel Tressider said tonight the family had lost contact with Miss Wrightson and had been trying to trace their vulnerable relative.

She said they were angry that no-one in authority had contacted Miss Wrightson’s mother, her next of kin, to inform her how much she was struggling in the two years before she was brutally killed in a prolonged assault by two schoolgirls in her Hartlepool home.

The frail alcoholic was battered to death with various household items in a five-hour ordeal by girls aged just 13 and 14 at the time. They were jailed for 15 years last year.

Miss Wrightson’s family have been digesting the contents of three serious case reviews, published yesterday, into the events leading up to her death and what could have been done differently by authorities.

Both girls and Miss Wrightson were well known to different agencies – but the reviews found while communication could be improved, nothing could have been done to foresee or prevent the tragedy.

But Miss Tressider said the family were angry at some things in the report, adding: “As a family we accept that this could never have been predicted, but we feel more could have been done to prevent what eventually happened.

“There should have been more awareness of what Angela was going through and I feel they should have put her in a residential placement. There had been one arranged but it was cancelled just days before, after Angela had put in a lot of hard work for months to cut down on her drinking. It was her attempt to change her life. But after that she got much worse.

“We didn’t know where Angela was, we couldn’t trace her, and if someone had just contacted my nanna (Angela’s mother) to let her know how bad things were then we might have been able to support her.

“We were also absolutely horrified that there were occasions when she made complaints to the police about sexual assaults - in one case when there was forensic evidence present - and she was not offered support, and no action was taken.

“We know there were many difficult issues, but we feel Angela was treated as a pest rather than someone who desperately needed help.”

She was highly critical of another occasion when, following a small accidental fire in Miss Wrightson’s kitchen, the fire brigade made a safeguarding referral to help her – but police officers later turned up to arrest her on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life.

And she said the reviews were too quick to blame the girls’ parents entirely for their problems when at the time they had run away from local authority care.

A Cleveland Police spokesperson said: “As the report makes clear, partners were often unaware of the complexity of the victim’s condition and this led to some decision making that didn’t take into account her vulnerability and specific needs. We now have a ‘Victims First’ approach which highlights vulnerability and helps us better support our communities.”

Gill Alexander, Hartlepool Borough Council Chief Executive, said: “This was a tragic incident and our condolences go out to the family and friends of the victim. It was completely unthinkable that children would commit such an awful and brutal crime and the serious case reviews conclude that there was nothing professionals could have done to prevent this happening.”

She said the council was now working on a number of recommendations in the review to “make sure learning is implemented”.