GREAT BRITAIN • JAHZARA MCKOY (and her mother, Valerie Forde) - 23 months (3-2014) Hackney, east London, England

Police watchdog called in to investigate murders of mother and child

Police are thought to have treated call in days leading up to killing of Valerie Forde and baby girl as threat to property, not life

Friday 4 April 2014 14.50 EDT




Valerie Forde and her daughter Jahzara McKoy were found dead at home in Hackney, east London. Photograph: Jack Sullivan/Alamy

The murders of a mother and her child are being investigated by the police watchdog after it emerged the woman had been in contact with the Metropolitan force two months before she was killed.

Valerie Forde, 45, and her 23-month-old daughter, Jahzara McKoy, were found dead on Monday morning at their home in Hackney, east London.

The results of postmortem examinations were released on Friday. Forde's cause of death was multiple injuries and Jahzara died from incised wounds to the neck.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) announced it was looking into the contact between Forde and the Met from February until the day she was murdered.

The Guardian understands that police were told in the days before Forde was killed that someone had threatened to burn down her house with her in it. However, the call was logged as a threat to property rather than a threat to life.

Police said they were called to Forde's home at 9.11am on Monday 31 March, after reports of three injured people at the house in Oswald's Mead. Forde and her daughter were pronounced dead at the scene. A 53-year-old man, understood to be Roland McKoy, was also found inside. He was arrested on suspicion of murder. He is being treated in hospital as a result of injuries he sustained. His condition is described as stable and not life threatening.

The case was referred to the IPCC by the Met's professional standards department.

Mary Cunneen, the IPCC commissioner running the investigation, said: "My thoughts and sympathies are with Ms Forde's family at what must be a desperately sad and difficult time for them.

"Our investigation is at an early stage but I would like to assure Ms Forde's family we will carry out a robust and independent investigation into the Metropolitan police's contact with Ms Forde before her tragic death." She would not comment on the details of the contact with the police.

Forde, who had four children, was known in the area for her community work at Kingsmead Kabin in Hackney, supporting elderly and deprived people.

DCI Charles King, who is investigating the murders, said inquiries were continuing.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/apr/04/police-watchdog-ipcc-investigates-murders-mother-child