Met slammed for 'catalogue of bad decisions and errors' over Nickell murder

A "catalogue of bad decisions and errors" by the Metropolitan Police left Robert Napper free to kill Rachel Nickell, a report revealed today.

Officers missed a series of opportunities to take the violent psychopath off the streets, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said.

The lives of Samantha Bisset and her four-year-old daughter Jazmine would also have been saved if police had acted on tip-offs, including one by Napper's mother after he confessed to rape.

Rachel Cerfontyne, of the IPCC, said police failed to investigate the 1989 report that he attacked a woman on Plumstead Common, in London, and no record of the telephone call can be found.

She added that officers "inconceivably" eliminated Napper over a series of rapes on parkland in south London because he was thought to be too tall.

She said: "It is clear that throughout the investigations into the 'Green Chain' rapes and Rachel Nickell's death there was a catalogue of bad decisions and errors made by the Metropolitan Police.

"The police failed to sufficiently investigate after Napper's mother called police to report that he had confessed to her that he had raped a woman and, inconceivably, they eliminated Napper from inquiries into the Green Chain rapes because he was over 6ft tall.

"Without these errors, Robert Napper could have been off the streets before he killed Rachel Nickell and the Bissets, and before numerous women suffered violent sexual attacks at his hands."

The IPCC said no police officer will face disciplinary action because they have all retired, and one key senior detective has died. Criminal prosecutions were not considered.