Teenager killed by rapist on the run who was 'known danger' to women

The 19-year-old was murdered in February 2019 by fugitive rapist Neil Maxwell as a coroner warns that similar crimes could occur unless sex offenders are better monitored

Probation chiefs have days to respond to an urgent warning that failures to track sex offenders could lead to more deaths like tragic Leah Croucher’s.

A coroner claimed supervision of convicted predators like her killer Neil Maxwell is not robust enough. Leah, 19, was snatched in 2019 by fugitive rapist Maxwell, 49, who murdered her and stashed her dismembered body in a loft where it lay for nearly four years.

Leah’s parents John, 50, and Claire, 49, have called for urgent action to “keep others safe”. Tom Osborne, senior coroner for Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, said Maxwell “was in breach of the terms of his probation and was able to kill Leah when it was known he was a predator and a danger to females”.

He added: “There should be a fundamental review of the process for monitoring sex offenders in the community and the sharing of information between all agencies, particularly the police and probation service, to ensure a similar death can be prevented.”

Probation Minister James Timpson has until Wednesday to reveal how he will address shortfalls highlighted in the coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths Report. John and Claire said: “We are urging the minister to complete a thorough review of the system, creating an action plan with timescales for these improvements to be achieved.

“Leah was failed. It is our mission to do what we could not achieve for our daughter and keep others safe when they are walking to work.” Leah disappeared on February 15, 2019, as she walked to work in the Furzton area of Milton Keynes.

Police searched 3,500 houses, followed 1,500 lines of inquiry, examined 1,200 documents, 1,600 messages and took 500 statements. Leah was not found until 2022 at a house handyman Maxwell had worked at near where Leah was last seen alive.

Her disappearance was too much for half brother Haydon, who took his own life in 2019. Maxwell, who had a “predilection for young females”, killed himself two months after Leah vanished.

He was being hunted over a sex attack but officials had lost track of him and failed to assess him as “high-risk” despite offences going back more than 20 years. John and Claire said it was “disappointing” that authorities had not made changes in the 15 months prior to the inquest.

They added: “We would like to urge the police to inform us of the steps taken to apprehend Maxwell. We are left in the misery of having to beg for scraps of information.”