Police ‘could have done more before’ Biggleswade woman’s murder

A coroner has found police missed opportunities to protect a mother-of-three who was murdered and whose body was hidden in a suitcase inside a wheelie bin.

Matthew Waddell was jailed for a minimum of 32 years for killing his former partner Sarah Albone, 38, at her home in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.

At an inquest into Albone’s death, Emma Whitting, senior coroner for Bedfordshire and Luton, concluded it was an unlawful killing to which Bedfordshire Police failures materially contributed.

The chief constable accepted the force “could and should have done more to protect Sarah” and said it had made significant changes to improve its response to domestic abuse.

Waddell had killed Albone at her Winston Crescent address and hid her body in a suitcase inside a taped-up bin.

The relationship had started in 2020, with Albone attempting to end it two months later due to his coercive and controlling behaviour.

Her remains were found in the bin on 25 February 2023 – three months after she was last seen.

The inquest heard police had been called to her home several times from August 2021.

It found Albone faced such an immediate risk in the 16 months before her murder that the state had a duty to protect her, but had failed to do so.