Family call for lessons to be learnt over Poole fatal stabbing

Gary James Ballett died at Poole Hospital on August 10, 2020, after being stabbed in the abdomen the previous day by Christopher Stocks.

A coroner reached a narrative conclusion into Mr Ballett’s death that he died as a consequence of a single stab injury inflicted by another but the circumstances as to how that came about remained unclear.

This came after a five-day inquest at Dorset Coroner’s Court earlier this month.

Mr Stocks, 54, was charged with murdering 66-year-old Mr Ballett, but he died after falling ill during the Salisbury Crown Court trial in February 2021.

The stabbing took place at Trinidad House in Rossmore Road, Poole, which is a sheltered housing scheme where both men lived.

• Read more: Circumstances around fatal stabbing of Poole veteran unclear

Following the inquest, in a statement Mr Ballett’s family told the Daily Echo: “Whilst we were denied justice being realised in a criminal court, we are grateful to the coroner for all of her efforts and explorations into Gary’s death.

“Gary was a much-loved family member and was well-liked within his local community. He was kind, generous and supportive of his friends and family, and would frequently help others when needed particularly during the recent periods of lockdown.”

Concerns remain

The family said they remained “deeply saddened” by the events that led to Mr Ballett being killed by a man who had made very recent threats of violence.

The inquest heard Mr Stocks had told a 999-call handler during a neighbour dispute on August 8, 2020, that he was going to “sort it out with a knife himself” if police did not attend.

Trinidad House in Rossmore Road

Police did go to the area but “all had gone quiet”. The incident was closed by an officer with a task sent to the neighbourhood policing team to pick up, but this was not viewed until the morning after the stabbing.

Mr Ballett’s family said: “We are disappointed that Dorset Police feel that there are no lessons to be learnt from the death of Gary.

“Whilst we appreciate the proposed action of Dorset Police to send an email to all officers via the staff intranet, we remain disappointed and are concerned that this is an inadequate response.

“There are still some lessons to be learnt, most notably on the use of existing intelligence and promoting effective communication. On this occasion, although we cannot be sure that it would have affected this set of circumstances, improving these issues may potentially safeguard their officers and members of the public.

“We also remain concerned that the response from Poole Housing Partnership (now known as BCP Homes) to the continuing anti-social behaviour by tenants at Trinidad House is inadequate, particularly when tenants have been identified as prone to aggression, unpredictable and threatening behaviour.

“We have also welcomed the investigation conducted by the University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust’s investigative report into the treatment and care of Gary, particularly the recommendations and changes subsequently made, specifically to the improved management of major and catastrophic haemorrhage within the Trust.

“We hope that all agencies involved will still take the opportunity to reflect and learn from Gary’s untimely and brutal death in order to prevent future deaths.”

Police and council responses

Dorset Police and BCP Council said their thoughts and condolences remained with Mr Ballett’s family.

A spokesperson for the force said: “We have fully co-operated with the inquest process and, having referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the actions of officers who attended on Saturday, August 8, 2020, have been fully reviewed and scrutinised by the force’s professional standards department. No misconduct has been identified.

“As with any incident such as this, we will carefully consider whether there are areas of learning for our organisation and will respond to these appropriately.

“In this specific case, some learning has been identified with regard to how investigations are finalised and the actions needed when doing so. This learning will be disseminated to officers.”

A BCP Council spokesperson said: “We can confirm that officers from Poole Housing Partnership, alongside Dorset Police and other agencies, had previously responded to complaints of anti-social behaviour at Trinidad House. At the time appropriate steps were taken to resolve the issue.’’