AN INVESTIGATION into whether police acted properly in dealing with murderer Paul Plunkett, who cut his throat when they forced entry to his flat, has found there is no case to answer.

Double killer Plunkett was sentenced to a minimum of 23 years in prison last month for murdering his partner, Redcar grandmother Barbara Davison, in August.

But as Cleveland Police officers forced entry to his home in Station Road, Redcar, to arrest him, he cut his own throat with a blade.

Now an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct has concluded that officers had no case to answer and were not to blame for the act of self-harm.

The investigation found that officers ‘could not have reasonably foreseen’ Plunkett’s actions.

Plunkett admitted murdering 66-year-old Mrs Davison in her home in William Street, Redcar, and was branded a ‘danger to women’ after it emerged he had already been convicted of murdering a partner Jacqueline Aspery in the 1990s. He had served just three years for manslaughter.

The Northern Echo: Victim Barbara DavisonVictim Barbara Davison

A spokesman for the IOPC said: “At 12.11pm on 15 August 2018, four Cleveland Police officers visited a flat in order to arrest the occupant on suspicion of the murder of his partner.

“The officers located the flat in which he lived and identified themselves as police officers when knocking at the door. After receiving no response, the officers forced entry to the flat, whereupon the occupant cut his throat with a blade. The officers then arrested him and provided immediate first aid.

“We obtained statements from the four officers involved in the arrest and carried out a review of the body-worn camera footage.

“The man did not engage with our investigation and did not provide a statement.

“After a thorough examination of all the evidence, we concluded that the officers could not have reasonably foreseen that their actions in seeking to arrest the man would have led him to inflict the injury to his throat.

“Throughout the investigation, we did not consider there to be an indication that any police officer may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence. All officers co-operated fully with the investigation.”