Police and social services failings may have contributed to the fatal stabbing of a ‘peaceful and loving’ musician by a mentally ill teenage girl, a coroner has ruled.
Nimroy Hendricks, 24, was pursued down the road and stabbed in the chest by the 14-year-old youngster.
He collapsed in the street and despite frantic efforts by paramedics he was pronounced dead at the scene.
An inquest found the musician had been put at risk due to a failure by police and social services to take appropriate action.
The girl – who was known to be vulnerable and was on a Child Protection Plan – had been flagged as posing a ‘high risk’ and often ‘carried a knife’ around with her.
Just four days before the fatal attack, the girl – referred to as Child A – had gone missing from her home in Three Bridges, Crawley in West Sussex.
Police located her but were unable to return her home, because her mother was away in London.
Officers decided not to take her into protective custody and instead allowed her to stay with a woman who claimed to be her ‘cousin’.
Police and social services failings may have contributed to the fatal stabbing of ‘peaceful and loving’ musician Nimroy Hendricks, a coroner has ruled
Lisa and Nimroy Hendricks paid tribute to their ‘confident, happy and inquisitive’ son
The couple were present at the inquest, which concluded today in Horsham, West Sussex
However the woman was not a relative and was known to police as a drug user with previous criminal convictions.
Today a coroner ruled that failings by Sussex Police and social services at West Sussex County Council may have contributed to the death of the ‘peaceful and loving’ musician.
Penelope Schofield, senior coroner for West Sussex, said officers had failed to check whether the adult allowed to take in the teenager the night before the killing was actually her cousin.
Instead they left Child A on the side of a road at 2am with a woman purporting to be her cousin.
She said: ‘The police did not physically attend the address given to them and therefore did not realise this person was not a relative.’
Ms Schofield also said social services had failed to hold an emergency strategy meeting which had been organised when the child went missing.
She said that as a result ‘there was no opportunity to put in place additional safeguarding measures.’
Ms Schofield added: ‘It is possible that had these matters been addressed, the perpetrator may not have been in a position to carry out the act which led to Mr Hendrick’s death.’
Armed police carried out a search around Crawley after the incident in October 2020
Speaking after the inquest his parents Nimroy Hendricks Snr and Lisa Hendricks said their son had been failed but they were relieved by the coroner’s findings.
Lisa said: ‘Nim should never have been put in the position he was. The authorities were well aware of the risk posed by the child.’
She said the impact on the family had been shattered by his death and accused the police and social services of trying to cover up their errors.
Mr Hendricks said: ‘The police and authorities failed, they failed in every sense of the word.’
The inquest in Horsham, West Sussex, heard the 14-year-old girl had a history of violence and suffered from mental health problems.
She had been diagnosed with PTSD and a split personality disorder, had a criminal record and had previously attacked police.
The hearing was told the girl had suffered a ‘turbulent’ childhood and had been the repeated victim of sexual assault, sex abuse and child sexual exploitation which had compounded her mental health condition.
The teenager had recently moved from Birmingham and lived with her mother in a flat in Three Bridges.
The murder victim was named as Nimroy Hendricks, 24, who was a talented musician
Just four days before the fatal attack the girl had gone missing from home and could not be found.
Police were informed, launched a missing person investigation and eventually located her in the early hours of October 27, 2020.
But despite being missing from home and being classed as ‘vulnerable’ officers decided not to take her into protective custody.
Although it was known to police there were no relatives in the area, officers left the teenager with an 18-year-old she described as a ‘cousin’.
The following day the girl returned to her home on her own then locked herself in her bedroom.
Mr Hendricks, known as Nim, was in a relationship with the girl’s mother and had travelled from his home in London to the flat in Three Bridges to pick up some belongings.
When he arrived he found the flat in disarray and angrily banged on the girl’s bedroom door.
Nim then left the property and was making his way towards a nearby train station when the girl, who had pursued him, confronted him in the street and stabbed him once in the chest.
Flowers were left in Russell Way, Crawley, following the death of Mr Hendricks. Friends described him as ‘the nicest guy you’d ever meet’
The girl calmly walked off and told a bystander: ‘I’ve stabbed Nim.’
Police arrested the girl, who had a criminal record, and she was later judged to be suffering from a ‘significant abnormality of mind’.
The teenager pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at Bristol Crown Court in 2022 and was sentenced to nine years – five in custody and four on extended licence.
During the two-week inquest, the girl – who is now 19 – was revealed to have had a long history of mental health problems and was repeatedly in trouble with the police.
From a young age, the girl was in contact with child services including child safeguarding, youth justice services and education agencies.
As well as having learning difficulties, she was known to have a mental age of around eight.
Just eight months before the fatal attack, the girl had stabbed her mother in the leg and tried to burn down her house.
She had been remanded to juvenile institution before being released back into the care of her mother.
Early in 2020 the girl and her mother had moved from Birmingham to London before being placed in accommodation in West Sussex.
It was there the girl’s mother met Mr Hendricks, a talented musician who worked as a carer, and the pair began a relationship.
The girl continued to make threats of violence towards her mother and, although she started attending a specialist education centre, she continued to pose a threat of violence.
On October 24 the teenager disappeared from the flat and was reported to police as being missing from home.
The girl was located by police and her mother, who was staying in London, asked officers to take her daughter to a safe place.
Frederick Powell, lawyer for the family, said Nim had never been told the risk of violence from the girl.
He said: ‘Nim was overlooked. He was never told of the risk this child posed. He was in a blindspot due to the failure of examining what was known.’
Paying tribute to her son, his mother Lisa Hendricks said Nim had been a hugely loving child before growing up to become a talented musician.
She said: ‘He was a leader and a performer. He loved books and reading. He was confident, happy and inquisitive.
‘He was a joy to us. He loved the environment, the mountains and being close to the sea.’
