How police failed a family in arson horror

Alex and Maureen Cochrane died and their daughter, Lucy, suffered severe burns after a firebomb attack on their home.

Now an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission has found police committed a series of blunders in the run-up to their horrific deaths.

A report said that while police actions did not contribute to the death of the couple, Mr Cochrane, 54, and his wife, 45, had been the victims of "individual and systemic failings" by officers.

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The family had been targeted in a hate campaign after Lucy Cochrane fell out with fellow school pupil, Natalie Connor.

The row escalated dramatically and ended in January last year when Natalie's father Michael Connor, 40, was goaded by his ex-wife Jane to take action.

He went to the Cochranes' house in Wythenshawe, Manchester, and poured more than a litre of petrol through the letterbox before setting it alight.

He and his 40-year-old ex-wife were sentenced to life in prison, with a recommendation they serve at least 32 years, while their 18-year-old daughter was convicted of two counts of manslaughter and jailed for 11 years.

But in the court case last year, it emerged the Cochranes had compiled an inch-thick dossier of complaints during the hate campaign.

And a subsequent investigation by the IPCC found the family had been badly let down by Greater Manchester Police.

Officers had failed to visit the family's home after they reported an unsuccessful arson attack just five days earlier. The report condemned police for failing to record complaints from the family and for not replying to a letter from them outlining the harassment.

The report concludes it was wrong for PC Lee Naylor, who had been dealing with the Cochranes, not to visit their home after the first arson attack.

He was also criticised for handing out his mobile number to the family as it meant the police's complaint recording systems were circumvented. The report recommended that one police constable be given a formal written warning and an inspector be "advised" on future procedural matters.

Naseem Malik, IPCC commissioner for the North-West, said: "It should not be overlooked the people responsible for the deaths of Maureen and Alex Cochrane were Michael, Jane and Natalie Connor.

"No one can ever say that there would have been a different outcome had Greater Manchester Police acted differently.

"However, it is clear that there were failings in the duty of care this family received.

"Individual officers made errors, sometimes attempting to do what they regarded as the right thing and possibly sometimes as a result of being too close to the situation.

"These individual errors were then compounded by systemic failings and all this combined in letting the Cochranes down."

Chief Superintendent Alan Cooper said his force would give "a considered response to the IPCC in the near future".