Southend killer Michael Strudwick can't recall murdering Christy Walshe

Michael Strudwick told officers he had taken cocaine the day before and on the day of January 11 where he shot his partner Christy Walshe with a shotgun.

A domestic homicide review undertaken by the Southend Community Safety Partnership found that potential signs of Strudwick controlling Ms Walshe before her death may have been missed by health professionals.

When speaking to the review board, Strudwick admitted he would take Ms Walshe’s prescription drugs to feed his own addiction and they would be reported lost.

The review said: “Adult B [Strudwick] said he had very little recollection of the day of the shooting. He had taken cocaine the day before and on the day itself, and was heavily under the influence of alcohol and tramadol.

“He stated he had argued with Martine [Ms Walshe] but he could not remember what about. He could offer no explanation as to his actions. He admitted that the firearm used in the incident belonged to him and that it had been in the flat for some time.

Killer - Michael Strudwick is serving a life sentence

“He could not remember making the 999 call to the ambulance service or being aware Martine had made a 999 call to the police just minutes before.”

The review also stated that on January 11 at 7.12pm, Ms Walshe had made a 999 call to police saying Strudwick was being aggressive and refused to leave, but then stated he was leaving and cancelled police’s attendance.

The Force Control Room graded the incident as “Priority 1” requiring a response in 15 minutes, but was then downgraded to “Priority 3” (a response within an hour), in line with force policy.

However, a minute later, Strudwick called the ambulance saying he had shot Ms Walshe.

The review recommended that in cases where a 999 call reporting domestic abuse is terminated prematurely, incidents should not be downgraded until they can contact the party again, as Ms Walshe could not be reached after hanging up on the day.

In its conclusion the board said the case was “tragic” and that Ms Walshe had died in “the most horrific circumstances”.

The review added: “The fact remains, the only person who knows what happened has stated he has no recollection of the events of that day.”

A spokesman for Essex Police said: "Domestic abuse remains a force-wide priority for Essex Police, our response to which is a key metric for measuring our service to the public.

"In this tragic case, ahead of the day of the murder, no previous incidents of domestic abuse had been reported to us.

"We referred our response to the 999 call to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). It handed it back for local investigation, which was carried out by our professional standards department.

"This was completed and there were no misconduct issues identified.  We continually review our approach to domestic abuse, to provide the best possible service.

"Our policy states any decision to upgrade or downgrade an emergency response incident must have a clearly documented rationale which is arrived at using key parameters.”