Woodhams officers 'forced to quit'

The young father was murdered on his doorstep seven months after the attack near his east London home which left him terribly scarred.

A detective sergeant and a detective constable were ordered to resign from their posts at the end of a two-day misconduct hearing, Scotland Yard said.

The Metropolitan Police detective sergeant and the constable, who has since transferred to a uniformed role in Derbyshire, admitted a number of failings.

Mr Woodhams, 22, was shot dead on his doorstep last August after suffering a seven-month campaign of violence and bullying.

An investigation was launched after his family complained that police had failed to properly investigate a knife attack on him in January. Mr Woodhams' family believes that if the attack had been properly investigated, he might not have been killed.

Commissioner Deborah Glass, of the Independent Police Commission (IPCC), said an inquiry revealed "serious flaws" in the police response to the knife attack.

She said: "Peter's death is a terrible tragedy for the Woodhams family, who clearly believe that it might have been avoided. I hope that the IPCC investigation and the Metropolitan Police's response to its findings has provided them with some reassurance that lessons have been learned both by the organisation and individual officers."

The Metropolitan Police later released a statement apologising for the failings in the investigation. Commander Mark Simmons said: "It continues to be a matter of deep regret for the Metropolitan Police Service that the family of Peter Woodhams suffered further anguish because of shortfalls in this investigation. We did not meet the standards expected of us or that we expect of ourselves."

In May, 18-year-old Bradley Tucker was jailed for life at the Old Bailey for murdering Mr Woodhams.