Susan Nicholson: inquest begins into 'possible police failings' before her death

A full inquest into possible "police failings" concerning the death of Susan Nicholson has begun after years of campaigning by her family.

Susan from Worthing was murdered by her then-partner Robert Trigg in April 2011 - five years after the death of Caroline Devlin, another of his former girlfriends.

Both women were found dead in their homes - Caroline in her bed and Susan on her sofa - but neither of the deaths were initially deemed as suspicious by Sussex Police.

Caroline Devlin and Susan Nicholson

Today a fresh inquest was launched at Crawley Coroner's Court into Susan's death - who was 52 at the time - almost ten years after she died on April 17, 2011.

During the hearing, the court was given a timeline of events concerning previous incidents involving Trigg and several women.

The court heard there were at least five incidents when police were called in response to Trigg being aggressive, violent or making threats towards women before Caroline Devlin was found dead in her bed on Mother's Day in 2006.

The 35-year-old, of Cranworth Road, Worthing, was discovered by her 14-year-old son Jordan while Trigg sat at the bottom of the stairs, the court heard.

A post mortem examination at the time found Caroline had died of natural causes.

Just five months after her death, police were called to another woman's home to reports that Trigg was drunk and shouting through her letter box, and in June 2007 he tried to break in to a woman's home.

Peter and Elizabeth Skelton, Susan's parents, who campaigned for a fresh inquest into her death

In May 2010 a violent incident involving Trigg was also reported.

By December that year, Trigg was living with Susan in her home in Rowlands Road.

In January 2011 police were called to the address after a neighbour reported a "loud verbal argument and a bang" .

Then in March, Trigg was arrested and received a "strong caution" after assaulting Susan.

The mother-of-two had "two black eyes, a swollen mouth and cuts to her forehead", the court heard.

Within less than a month, she was dead.

Trigg had initially told police he had fallen asleep and “rolled on top of Susan”, causing her to suffocate.

At the original inquest the coroner had ruled her death to be accidental.

But Susan's parents Peter and Elizabeth Skelton spent years calling for a second police investigation, and in 2016 Robert Trigg was arrested.

The following year he was eventually convicted of murdering Ms Nicholson, who had been suffocated, and of manslaughter in relation to Ms Devlin's death.

He is currently serving a 25-year sentence.

After Trigg's conviction the senior coroner for West Sussex intended to hold a short inquest to change Ms Nicholson's cause of death from "accidental" to "unlawful killing".

Susan Nicholson

But Susan's family brought a legal challenge against the coroner over the scope of a fresh inquest into their daughter's death.

They argued that a full investigation was needed to probe whether her death could have been prevented.

At the hearing today, senior coroner for West Sussex Penelope Schofield told the jury: "What you will be considering is in what circumstances Susan came by her death, including looking at the police action following Caroline Devlin's death and whether or not police took reasonable steps in light of previous violence you will hear about.

"You will need to look carefully at what police knew at the time, or what they ought to have known."

In a statement read out in court, Susan's family described her as loving, confident and "a wonderful mother" to her sons Joseph and Mark.

They said: "Her death was a massive shock and we were absolutely shattered.

"It has been a long wait since 2011 and we have not been able to properly grieve for her death."

Sussex Police are due to give evidence during the inquest, which is set to run for up to three weeks.

The hearing continues.