Following a request by Naomi Hunte and Fiona Holm’s families the IOPC have finally agreed to conduct an independent investigation into the deaths of Naomi Hunte in 2022 and Fiona Holm in 2023, having previously refused to do so.
Both women were killed by Carl Cooper, with Fiona Holm’s murder occurring following her report to the Met of a serious assault by Cooper whilst he was already under investigation for Naomi Hunte’s murder.
Sophie Naftalin acts for Mr Basil Hunte, Naomi’s father, and Ms Savannah Holm-Aderemi and Ms Elise Skillen, Fiona’s daughter and sister.
The families are calling for a robust inquiry into the circumstances of both deaths, which addresses the question of whether the two women were discriminated against by officers on account of their race and mental illness.
Sophie Naftalin made the following statement on behalf of the families of Naomi Hunte and Fiona Holm:
“Both Naomi Hunte and Fiona Holm were vulnerable Black women who called on the police for protection from Carl Cooper, a man who was known to the Met to be a serial perpetrator of high risk domestic abuse. Naomi reported Carl Cooper to the police four times before she was killed. Both deaths were preventable and this case discloses seismic systemic failures on the part of the Met to protect victims of high risk domestic abuse.
The families had no faith in the ability of the Met to investigate itself and therefore called upon the IOPC to open an independent investigation. The Met had previously referred Fiona Holm’s case to the IOPC on two occasions but the IOPC refused to independently investigate. As for Naomi Hunte’s case the Met failed to even properly record the issues arising as potential conduct matters.
Whilst both families are pleased that the IOPC have at long last agreed to independently investigate both of these cases they are disappointed with their delay in agreeing to do so. They now call upon the IOPC to conduct a full and fearless investigation which properly addresses the extent to which discrimination may have played a part in how Naomi Hunte and Fiona Holm were treated”.
