A Sussex Police officer has been found guilty of gross misconduct at a disciplinary panel today over his failure to properly investigate Shana Grice’s complaints that she was being stalked by the man who would later murder her.
PC Mills, who has now resigned, was accused of failing to adequately investigate a complaint made by Shana after her former boyfriend turned stalker Michael Lane let himself into her house with a stolen key and entered her bedroom.
Had PC Mills not resigned, he would have been dismissed.
Michael Lane was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing Shana in August 2016. At his trial, the judge, Mr Justice Green, was scathing of Sussex Police’s treatment of Ms Grice, saying:
“You jumped to conclusions.
“In other words, she was treated as the wrongdoer and having committed a criminal offence, and Michael Lane was treated as the victim.
“There was seemingly no appreciation on the part of those investigating that a young woman in a sexual relationship with a man could at one and the same time be vulnerable and at risk of serious harm.
“The police jumped to conclusions and Shana was stereotyped.”
Another officer, PC Trevor Godfrey is accused of concluding Shana’s complaints were dishonest and warning her she was wasting police time after failing to investigate her complaints properly. His hearing is yet to be take place and no date is currently fixed.
Responding to the news, the family’s lawyer said: “It is clearly the right decision. Unfortunately, it doesn’t change anything for Shana and is too little, too late.”