Family Say Mum Could Have Lived If Police Had Acted

Detectives failed to take action against a violent police clerk who later murdered his girlfriend, the victimÍs family claim.

Murdered mother-of-two Valerie Curtis might still be alive had officers acted when warned that Eliya Karako was assaulting her daughter.

Company director Michael Curtis of The Avenue, Hatch End, claims his daughter Nicola had been assaulted twice by Karako while he lived with his ex-wife, Valerie Curtis.

An investigation has now been completed into complaints from Mr Curtis and his daughter. They claim officers failed to act when told that a civilian colleague at Barnet Police Station was assaulting Nicola, 22.

ñWe complained twice to police when Nicola was beaten up, once in the street when she told him [Karako] to get out of the house,î said Mr Curtis.

ñShe ended up in hospital. If police had taken action Valerie might be alive today.

ñEven officers who visited us after the murder told us to go ahead with a complaint ,, they were horrified.î

Mrs Curtis, a 52-year-old medical secretary, of Wycherly Crescent, Barnet, died of stab wounds in June last year, after meeting boyfriend Karako to end their relationship.

After attacking Mrs Curtis at his flat in Lander Court, Lyonsdown Road, Barnet, Turkish-born Karako, 48, stabbed himself in a suicide bid.

Paramedics battled to save Mrs Curtis but she died in hospital. Karako, a clerk with Barnet Police, died of his injuries four months later.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'A complaint was received in June last year. The complaint has been fully investigated by the North London Complaints Unit of the Metropolitan Police.

'A report has been completed and submitted to the Police Complaints Authority for their consideration. We are unable to comment on the contents until the PCA has had a chance to report.'