Ms Wafah Yasmin Chkaifi was a 44 year old woman who was killed by her former partner Leon McCaskie in West London on 24 January 2022. At the end of their relationship Wafah had reported McCaskie to the police for stalking her and said that she was in fear of her life. A stalking protection order was imposed upon McCaskie which he breached. At the time of Wafah’s death, a warrant had been circulated for McCaskie’s arrest which was not executed by the officer in the case, T/DC Marsh.
The IOPC conducted an independent investigation into the circumstances of her death. The IOPC found that there were failings in how T/DC Marsh had managed the case, including how he had assessed the risk to Wafah and his failure to execute the arrest warrant. However, it concluded that the failings were not sufficiently serious to justify misconduct proceedings and instead the case should be dealt with by way of “reflective practice”.
Wafah’s cousin sought to challenge the decision of the IOPC by way of judicial review. By order dated 10 November 2023 the High Court has quashed the first decision of the IOPC and ordered that a new decision should be made by a fresh decision maker with no involvement in the previous decision.
The Order of the High Court together with a Statement of Reasons can be seen here
Read press release here
Sophie Naftalin of Bhatt Murphy represents the family.
