It is no victory for Tanya Haynes that three Sussex Police officers are to face a misconduct tribunal for alleged failures in the unsolved murder of her partner, Jay Abatan.

The announcement by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) offers no comfort to a woman who blames "the system" rather than individuals.

It is more than five years since her partner Jay died after being attacked outside the Ocean Rooms nightclub in Morley Street, Brighton.

Mr Abatan, a father-of-two from Eastbourne, had been out celebrating promotion with PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

The 42-year-old was waiting for a taxi with his brother Michael when he was punched. His head hit the pavement and he died five days later.

Tanya, speaking at the Eastbourne house she shared with Jay and their son and daughter, now 12 and 11, said the fact three officers now faced a tribunal meant very little to her.

She said: "The consequences for the officers at worst will be a few weeks unpaid leave.

"For me, I'm not interested in attributing individual blame because it detracts from what is a systematic failure by Sussex Police."

A total of 57 inconsistencies, failures and inexplicable decisions were highlighted in one probe into the Sussex Police inquiry.

Tanya, who filed 60 complaints herself against the force, said she had only been given a brief summary of the findings of an inquiry by Avon and Somerset Police into the murder investigation by Sussex Police.

She said the summary alone "made appalling reading".

She said: "The investigation was totally inadequate and there were flaws in operational procedures, but the report somehow made excuses for the police and made it sound as if the errors were okay, that they were acceptable."

Tanya is furious the force as a whole cannot be brought to book.

One major complaint is how the case was handled on the night Jay was attacked.

Tanya said: "It just wasn't taken seriously from day one.

"The attitude appeared to have been this was just a black man in a brawl."

To add insult to injury, since the murder one officer has been promoted and another has received an accolade for excellent work.

Tanya accused the force of insincerity. After flaws were exposed, Tanya said Sussex Police asked her to trust them, saying they had learned lessons, improvements had been introduced and answers would be forthcoming.

She said: "Yet five-and-a-half years after Jay's murder I am still waiting for answers and still no one has been brought to justice. The very least we should be told is what went wrong with the investigation.

"It makes a mockery of the system. The police seem to be a law unto themselves. I want them to be accountable."

Tanya said the first review of the investigation, by Essex Police, was only carried out because of pressure from Jay's family.

She complained of a lack of communication by Sussex Police and their "ability to treat people like human beings."

Tanya, a family therapist and psychotherapist, offered to help train police family liaison officers to treat bereaved families more sympathetically but she was turned down.

"They said they had changed their approach but they only paid lip service to the idea. I have not seen any."

Sussex Police were even reluctant to accept the idea of a tribunal, making "pathetic" excuses about having to bring in people from outside Sussex to run it.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds were spent on the Avon and Somerset inquiry that told Jay's family nothing new.

Tanya no longer believes anyone will be brought to justice for Jay's murder. She said: "So much evidence was lost on the night he was attacked yet everyone knows the first 24-48 hours after a crime are the most crucial for an investigation.

"Since then, so much time and money has been wasted and I ask how Sussex Police will be made accountable for that.

"We were misled, not informed, and patronised. There was a lack of sensitivity in dealing with highly-sensitive material and there was poor communication skills and ignorance.

"They said they would be open with us and would give us answers.

"But by holding back the full report, we have been kept in the dark."

"In addition we have been lied to. Jack Straw (as Home Secretary) told us the investigation was fine and there were no problems.

"Yet it later emerged the whole team investigating Jay's death had to be replaced."

Strong support from family has helped Tanya cope as she has raised her two children over the past five years.

She remembers how she described Jay as the "best daddy in the world" when The Argus first interviewed her in February, 1999.

She said: "I use his strength. Jay would get up each morning and say 'let's seize the day'. There have been times when I've had pressure from the police when I've wanted to crawl into a ball, when I've said to myself 'I can't do this any more.'

"But then I've thought of Jay's 'let's seize the day' and no matter how hard it is I've used this strength from Jay to keep going."