AN INVESTIGATION launched into Dorset Police’s prior contact with a violent knife attacker who inflicted life-threatening stab wounds on two women found no standards breaches.

The force was subject to a probe by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over Mark Robert Williams, who received a life sentence with a minimum term of 14 years.

Williams slashed the two women, leaving them bleeding heavily from the neck in a night of violence in Bournemouth on Thursday, February 18, last year.

The 37-year-old, of Cecil Road, Bournemouth, attacked a sex worker he arranged to meet before assaulting a teenage girl and holding both females hostage.

Later that night he repeatedly stabbed another sex worker in the throat.

During the day prior to the attacks, Williams had been released from police custody having been arrested for a separate matter.

As a result of this contact with the defendant and a 999 call made by one of the victims during the offences, Dorset Police was referred to the IOPC.

The watchdog said it completed its enquiries in December and shared its findings with the force and others related to the investigation.

An IOPC spokesperson said: “We began an independent investigation in February 2021 following a referral from Dorset Police, due to prior police contact with the offender and an abandoned 999 call from one of the victims at the time of the offences.

“We carried out witness interviews with police officers and probation staff involved, reviewed evidence relating to the abandoned 999 call, and examined force and national guidance.”

The spokesperson added: “We found no indication of a breach of the standards of professional behaviour or criminal offence for any police officer or member of police staff. We are in the process of discussing areas of learning arising from the investigation with the force.” As reported, Williams had received an indefinite term of imprisonment for public protection in 2009 for offences of rape and attempted rape. He was given a minimum term of three years and released on a lifelong licence in 2018.

The defendant was arrested on the day of February 18, 2021, on suspicion of distributing indecent images of children.

He had a phone with internet capabilities without informing supervisors, which put him at risk of recall.

However, he was released from police custody that day and taken back to his address. Williams went on to commit his “horrendous” crimes that night.

His minimum term was extended by four years following a Court of Appeal hearing, with then Solicitor General Lucy Frazer QC MP describing the offender as a “danger to women”.

A Dorset Police spokesman said: "Dorset Police co-operated fully with the IOPC throughout their investigation.

"The force will continue to work with the IOPC to identify any areas of learning that have arisen from this case.

"Our thoughts continue to remain with the victims of Williams’ violent offending."