A damning report seen by the Manchester Evening News reveals how the probation service failed to protect Caroline Gore
David Liptrot murdered Caroline Gore in October 2023(Image: GMP)
The day Caroline Gore’s body was found slumped in front of the toilet at her flat in Wigan, the probation service sent a letter. It was addressed to her killer.
David Liptrot had missed an appointment. A violent and abusive thug, he had been released from prison just three weeks earlier.
That night, the 56-year-old snorted cocaine in the pub, sang Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ and bragged to friends about how he had killed his girlfriend.
Police later found 44-year-old Caroline dead on her bathroom floor. She had been brutally stabbed to death the night before.
Liptrot, now 58, had been banned from contacting Caroline. The pair had been in an on-and-off relationship for over 20 years.
But he repeatedly broke the rules. Brazenly, he turned up in court with Caroline five days before he killed her to try and get the restraining order lifted.
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The probation service, however, was not aware of this application. Liptrot had told them he was no longer in contact with her.
It was not the first time Liptrot ‘manipulated’ and ‘deceived’ probation staff, according to a report seen by the Manchester Evening News.
The damning document also reveals that, even when the probation service knew he had broken the rules, they failed to act.
Last year, the M.E.N. launched a campaign in memory of Caroline who was murdered by Liptrot on October 29, 2023.
We are calling for a mandatory minimum jail term for people who breach protective orders and better monitoring of perpetrators.
It followed calls for change from Caroline’s family who believe the ‘dearly loved’ sister, mother and grandmother-of-two would still be alive today if Liptrot was not spared jail for breaching his restraining order again, less than four weeks before he went on to kill her.
Two years on, many questions about Caroline’s death remain unanswered – such as why her killer was allowed to walk free weeks earlier.
Caroline Gore was killed by her abuser(Image: Manchester Evening News)
A review by the probation service, shared with the M.E.N., reveals it was not just the courts that failed to protect Caroline.
Liptrot acted with impunity time and time again. And the serious further offence review, completed in May, reveals a litany of failings.
The probation service has apologised to Caroline’s loved ones, with the government blaming the failings on staff being ‘overworked’.
However, Caroline’s daughter Megan, 28, has described the report as ‘deeply insulting’, branding the failings identified as ‘disgraceful’.
“While those responsible get to clock off at 5pm, go home, and forget about their work, I don’t get that privilege,” she told the M.E.N..
“I don’t get to go home to a full family, because a huge part of mine was taken away through the sheer negligence of so-called ‘professionals’. I don’t get to forget what happened to my mum.
“For too many in these services, it’s just a job — just a pay cheque. But for me, it’s my life. This is something I will live with and fight against for the rest of my days.”
He became ‘irate’
Liptrot, who lived in Coppull, Lancashire, had an extensive history of domestic abuse and an even longer record of criminal behaviour.
According to his probation report, his offending began at the age of 11. In total, he had 38 convictions as a result of 85 offences.
His offending started becoming more violent at the turn of the century, when reports of domestic abuse incidents were first recorded.
Callouts involving Caroline started in 2018, according to the review which focuses on the year before she was killed.
He was convicted for several crimes against her, including battery for which he got a two-month prison sentence in August 2022.
But when he was released subject to licence in September, he openly told probation officers that he was still in a relationship with her.
According to the report, he admitted to the ‘ongoing contact’ with Caroline, including visiting her address, immediately upon release.
When a probation officer challenged his actions – which breached a condition of his licence not to contact her – he reportedly became ‘irate’.
It was not just the courts that failed to protect Caroline(Image: Megan Gore)
However, despite considering punishing Liptrot for breaching his licence, the probation service chose not to recall him to prison.
According to the report, immediate action should have been taken.
“This would have set a clear boundary in terms of the seriousness of his actions and sent a clear message from the probation service regarding the consequences of his behaviour,” the reviewer wrote.
The report reveals that a senior probation officer decided not to recall Liptrot because she disagreed with non-contact as a condition.
Nevertheless, the review concludes removing this condition meant that safeguarding measures to protect Caroline were insufficient.
Two days later, Liptrot assaulted Caroline again. He was recalled to prison and sentenced to 12 weeks behind bars for common assault.
‘Not defensible’
This time, the Magistrates Court issued a restraining order which prohibited Liptrot from contacting Caroline for two years – but this didn’t stop him.
Months later, from late February 26 to early March, Liptrot made multiple phone calls to Caroline, leaving voicemails.
He was convicted for stalking and harassing Caroline by attending her home address and got a 30-week prison sentence on March 11.
Following his conviction, the probation services met with Liptrot’s family who suggested he had been in regular contact with her.
But when he was released two months later, the report states he claimed that the relationship was over – something that was not ‘fully explored’.
This time two electronic tags were fitted on Liptrot – one on each leg – to monitor his alcohol consumption, the other for his curfew.
The following month the probation service was notified that the tags may have been tampered with. No action was taken, the report says.
Later in June, Liptrot told his probation officer that he had asked to remove the alcohol tag because it was making his foot sore.
The probation officer had previously noted that Liptrot’s foot looked sore and asked the electronic monitoring service for support.
David Liptrot has been jailed
But after several weeks with no response, she allowed Liptrot to ‘cut it off himself’ without seeking any management oversight.
According to the review, this was another example of probation service staff allowing themselves to be manipulated by Liptrot – ‘giving permission’ for him to do what he wanted without giving consideration to the risks involved.
These decisions were described as ‘not defensible’.
The same probation officer was also criticised for lacking ‘professional curiosity’ when Liptrot ended up in hospital a month before.
He attended the office for an unplanned appointment in May with a bandage on the top of his arm. The report states he told the probation service staff that he ‘blacked out with a potato peeler in his hand’, saying he could not remember what had happened as his ‘head is gone’.
The probation practitioner helped Liptrot self-refer to the community mental health team, but there was no evidence that she continued to question if the injury could have occurred during a domestic incident, concluding there was no ‘increase in risk’.
Then, on July 18, Liptrot was arrested again. This time for harassment and breaching his restraining order while still on licence.
He called his probation officer and told her that he had been detained in hospital under section. The next day, she went on leave.
A decision was made not to recall Liptrot to prison immediately before the case was handed over to a trainee probation officer.
According to the report, the trainee, who was due to complete her qualification in August, does not recall having a formal handover.
After some unnecessary delays in recalling Liptrot to prison – a ‘key finding’ in the review which found he remained in the community for longer than he should have been – he was back in custody on July 22, a week after committing the new offences while on licence.
According to the report, a trainee probation officer should not be ‘caretaking’ high-risk cases like Liptrot’s with the reviewer pointing out that she may not have appreciated the extent of the escalating concerns about his case having not worked with him previously.
‘Things would be different’
Weeks before killing Caroline, Liptrot appeared in court on October 3 where he was sentenced for breaching his restraining order.
However, the judge decided to issue a suspended sentence, allowing Liptrot to be released from custody three days later.
Following his release, Liptrot’s probation records note that his attitude had changed and that he insisted ‘things would be different’.
Later that month, he breached his restraining order again by contacting Caroline and even turning up in court with her on October 24.
He applied to have his restraining order rescinded by the court, but was unsuccessful. The probation service did not find out until later.
His probation practitioner later revealed that Liptrot was still maintaining he was having no contact with Caroline at that point.
On the afternoon of October 29, 2023, Liptrot joined Caroline at the Wheatsheaf pub in Atherton for some drinks, but within around an hour, at around 5pm, she appeared to be upset and tried to get away from him, Manchester Crown Court would later hear.
Liptrot became ‘agitated’ and ‘banged forcefully’ on the women’s toilet door as he tried to find her, the murder trial was told.
At 8.16pm Caroline entered the Dog and Partridge pub in Wigan alone. She returned to her flat at Douglas House at 11.06pm.
Seventeen minutes later, Liptrot, who had been ‘lying in wait’ at Caroline’s flat, left the property having fatally stabbed her.
The next day, Liptrot was at the pub, drinking beer and snorting cocaine, when he told a punter, “I’ve killed Caroline,” the court heard,
The murder trial was told that, as word spread in the pub, Liptrot said: “If there is ever big problems, you get rid of them, you get shut.”
When police entered Caroline’s flat at 8.23pm on October 30, they found her on the bathroom floor, slumped in front of the toilet with her keys on the floor next to her. Caroline had suffered wounds to her neck, chest and stomach – causing serious internal injuries.
Earlier that day, Liptrot failed to attend a planned appointment. In response, the probation service issued him with a ‘breach letter’.
On October 31, the probation service was told of the sad news that Caroline had died and that Liptrot had been arrested for murder.
In court, Caroline was described as ‘vulnerable’, having suffered with mental health difficulties. Liptrot claimed Caroline had been violent against him – but both jurors and the judge saw through his lies and he was found guilty of murder the following year.
‘Her voice was not heard’
The serious further offence review notes that staff who were involved in managing Liptrot’s case have been ‘deeply affected’.
However, the review highlights a litany of failures by the probation service, not least that Caroline’s voice ‘was not heard’.
The report says that, although Caroline declined some support offered by police, there was a lack of contact by the probation service.
As a result of these failures, the report concludes, Liptrot was a ‘lone voice’ in enhancing his ability to coercively control Caroline.
The review found that there was a lack of professional curiosity on the part of officers who were ‘manipulated’ and ‘deceived’.
There was also a failure to use the required tools to determine Liptrot’s licence conditions and a lack of management oversight.
Both of these failures were blamed on being too busy with all staff and managers having very high caseloads during this period.
The review says it is ‘no surprise’ that these high caseloads affected the probation service’s capacity to manage Liptrot’s case.
However, it notes that this position ‘is not greatly improved within the office’ with some practitioners now carrying higher caseloads.
Earlier this year, a senior representative from the probation service visited Caroline’s daughter to personally apologise for the failings.
Throughout the 58-page document, it is noted that staff had been recommended to ‘improve their practice’ in response to the findings.
Megan is Caroline’s daughter(Image: Megan Gore)
Megan said that while there were failings by several agencies, these findings about the probation service are ‘particularly disgraceful’.
“Multiple failings were identified — all of which massively contributed to my mum’s death,” she told the M.E.N..
“A death that could and should have been prevented had people simply done the jobs they are paid to do.
“Probation has blamed many of its failings on ‘workload’” But workload is not an excuse when lives are at stake.
“If a probation officer is cutting corners, giving the wrong licence conditions or cannot cope with their responsibilities, then they are in the wrong job.
“We’ve been told that my mum’s voice was never heard. I will make sure it is heard now.
“I will not be silenced, and I will not allow the Probation Service to get away with such incompetence without accountability.
“To suggest that reading a few documents and visiting a website constitutes an adequate ‘recommendation’ or ‘fix’ is deeply insulting.
“My mum lost her life because of multi-agency incompetence — and these so-called solutions are nowhere near good enough.
“Are a few documents and website visits really all her life was worth? Absolutely not.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “This was a horrific crime and the Probation Service has apologised to Caroline Gore’s loved ones.
“The failings in the run up to Ms Gore’s death are a symptom of the overworked probation service this government inherited. It’s why we are recruiting thousands more probation officers and increase funding for the service by 45 per cent over the next three years.”