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Westminster stabbing murder referred to IOPC as Met say killer was 'likely' someone the victim knew

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date11 April 2024
Publication titleMyLondon (England)
A post-mortem examination carried out on Wednesday, April 10 found the cause of death was sharp force trauma. Kamonnan had dual nationality of Chinese/Hong Kong and Thai and moved to London for work. She was initially graded as a medium risk missing person after her disappearance was reported and as a result the Met has made a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct IOPC

Commander Owain Richards said: "We are supporting her devastated family and friends as best we can as they come to terms with their tragic loss. They are overseas and the process of informing them has taken some time as a result.

"To lose a loved one in these circumstances is unimaginable, and our thoughts are with them. We ask that their privacy is respected at this very sad and difficult time."

Commander Richards told the PA news agency, regarding the IOPC referral: "We received two calls from Kamonnan's friends on Sunday, April 7, raising concerns that they had not heard from her for some time.

"One just after 7pm and then another one just after 9.30pm on the Sunday evening. We initially graded the missing person inquiry as a medium-risk, prior to forcing entry and discovering her body on the following Monday morning.

"As her friends had contacted police and then we subsequently found, tragically, the body, we have made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is a standard referral in these cases to understand a review of what happened and whether there's any lessons to be learned in relation to that."

A spokesperson for the IOPC confirmed the matter "should be investigated" and "this should be carried out by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards". They added: "We advised the force that its investigation should, in our view, review the police response against policy and procedure and identify whether there were any missed opportunities to find Ms Thiamphanit sooner and potentially prevent her death, however we noted that the timing of her death is unclear at this...

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