A vulnerable pensioner was murdered by her violent lodger after a “fundamental failure” from multiple agencies to recognise the risk he posed, despite repeated requests for intervention from her family.
Patricia Holland, 83, was killed by Allan Scott at her home in Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk, in July 2021.
The ‘good Samaritan’ had allowed the homeless Scott, then aged 39, to stay at her property after meeting him in June 2020 but he soon isolated her from her family, was regularly under the influence of alcohol and repeatedly broke household items.
A domestic homicide review by Norfolk Community Safety Partnership examining the roles multiple agencies played in the year before her murder found that concerns by her family were not “taken sufficiently seriously or shared and coordinated”.
It found that Ms Holland had told authorities such as the police and Adult Social Care on at least 20 occasions that she wished Scott out of her home, and that he had a history of violent and criminal behaviour.
Her daughter said: “Although this domestic homicide review identifies numerous staggering failings by authorities who should have protected my mum, as a family we do not feel it goes far enough in its examination of the catastrophic breakdown of communication between agencies and the complete lack of professional curiosity from those who dealt with my mum’s case.
“We feel that this left her unprotected from the man who killed her.”
The report has made 34 recommendations, which includes ensuring that family concerns are given importance, to improve awareness of ‘cuckooing’ — where the home of a vulnerable person is taken over by a criminal — and to ensure safeguarding concerns contains all relevant background information.
After moving in with Ms Holland in June 2020, Scott failed to attend several probation meetings for several offences, and also told medical staff that he drank one litre of gin or port a day, and would take Methadone.
Norfolk Police first attended Ms Holland’s address in August 2020 after receiving reports from her daughter Kathryn that Scott was frequently drunk, would “pretend he is a dog and will walk around naked”.
This information was shared with the local Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) who called Ms Holland, but found her to have “no care and support needs”. Police were called again in August and September due to Scott’s volatile behaviour, with Ms Holland confirming to social services that she wished him out of her property.
Days after his removal, she allowed him to return to the property, with her family telling authorities that they suspected she suffered with early onset dementia.
During conversations with social workers, her daughter said she felt Scott posed a “serious risk” to her mother, and that she feared he would kill her.
Friends of Ms Holland also contacted the police, with one saying he had made a threat to “stick a plastic bag over her head” and throttle her.
Police were similarly called to the address in January 2021, while Kathryn spoke to social services again in February with a “range of concerns” that included Scott being an alcoholic and heroin addict, and displaying violent behaviour.
His “manipulative behaviour” led him to draw up a tenancy agreement which had no legal basis, to coerce Ms Holland into believing she could not remove him for three years.
Throughout 2021, his attitude towards the pensioner worsened, with police called on several occasions due to Scott “shouting and swearing” at her, and she was advised to speak to a solicitor.
Police were again called in July after a dispute over pasta and Scott was removed by four officers from the home, with Ms Holland advised to lock her doors and contact them if he returned.
However, Scott returned to the property later that evening and murdered her, with a fire in the garden pointing to the steps he took to conceal her body. At a trial in 2023, he was convicted of murder and arson and has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 35 years.
The report concluded that a home visit by social services should have taken place, and that “insufficient weight” was given to clear descriptions of Scott’s abuse ,which included assault, financial abuse and coercion.
His previous criminal history which included allegations of crimes against women and the abuse of a vulnerable man that he previously lived with were also not examined or considered.
It read: “(Patricia) and her family needed multi-agency coordinated action to achieve the removal of Chris, to protect (Patricia), and to secure her home to prevent his return.
“Despite the repeated number of callouts and safeguarding concerns no one took stock and looked at options available such as a Non-Molestation Order or Exclusion Order to try and remove Chris, or for improving the security of (Patricia)’s property. Tragically, no joined up action took place. “
In a statement, Kathryn said: “Nothing good can come of this review if it does not involve a proper acknowledgement of the deep and catastrophic failings that led to my mum’s murder. And they did lead to my mum’s murder.
“It might have been (Scott) who committed that appalling act that night in July, but that monster was made by the repeated indifference of so many agencies.
“By the repeated, and I can find no other word for it, doggedly determined failure to see the risk that my mum was in, to put the pieces together, to look at the picture that was, by the time of her death, screamingly obvious. This is all I have left.
“There is no way that I can ever come to terms with what happened to my mum that night.”
In a statement after his sentencing, Scott’s family said: “We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Patricia Holland and cannot imagine the pain the last nearly two years have brought them.
“We also wish to express our deep pain and disappointment at the failures in support and intervention from support services Allan and the family attempted to reach out to throughout his life.
“For decades we have attempted to seek help for our son and brother, and have repeatedly found obstructive bureaucracy, disinterest, and have been turned away.”
