Hudds killer's suicide after second murder

Oct 16 2008 by Andrew Hirst, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

POLICE checking the background of a former prisoner accused of attacking a woman he later killed spelled his name wrong and used the wrong date of birth.

The errors meant officers failed to identify former Huddersfield Shaun Clarke as a convicted murderer who had been released from a life sentence under probation.

Clarke, 45, was jailed for life for murdering his former partner, Patricia Sykes, at their Quarmby home in 1988 after she said their relationship was over. He had strangled the 27-year-old and put a live wire in her mouth to electrocute her.

He served more than 20 years for the killing.

After police failed to arrest Clarke, he went on to stab victim Donna Wilson nine times and inflict 46 other injuries on her at her home in Burton in Staffordshire.

Yesterday, at an inquest into her death, South Staffordshire Coroner Andrew Haigh said police missed several opportunities to identify Clarke and stop the assault, including failing to arrest the 45-year-old attacker after Miss Wilson’s complaint.