The ‘missed chances’ to stop Wakefield asylum seeker who murdered twice

Afghan national Ahmed Otak laughed and spat on 17-year-old Kimberley Frank’s body after stabbing her 15 times at her home while her sister Elisa watched helplessly, a court heard last year.

Afterwards he tied his then ex-partner up with electrical flex and lured her friend Samantha Sykes, 18, to Kimberley’s flat in Wakefield. Otak, 21, plunged the knife into Miss Sykes around 30 times before slitting her throat.

He abducted Elisa, then 19, and drove to Dover in a failed bid to flee to France.

Otak was jailed for life last year and told he must to serve a minimum of 34 years in jail.

Today, a serious case review into the case of Kimberley - who was 17 at the time and well known to social services in Wakefield - was published.

The report said her “history identifies her as a child who experienced a troubled adolescence” and “had a history of sexual exploitation since the age of 13”.

It said: “There is no doubt that she experienced and remained vulnerable to abuse as a result of sexual exploitation. However her death was not as a direct consequence of this particular vulnerability but as a result of her connection with the abusive relationship between (Otak) and her older sister.”

The review concluded: “There were missed opportunities to work with (Otak) and (Kimberley’s) older sister to address their violent relationship.

“No co-ordinated response to the domestic abuse was triggered by any incident or involvement of social services or police and the failure to trigger a multi-agency risk assessment conference resulted in the information known about them and Christine not being shared to inform an effective risk assessment.

“The result was that the level of risk (Otak) posed to (Kimberley) was never identified, assessed and therefore not managed.”

It said: “If there is one issue, a root cause that influenced the quality of provision for (Kimberley) more than any other it is that errors of judgment led to missed opportunities to conduct a comprehensive multi-agency assessment of her needs.”

The executive summary said: “The serious case review has also identified missed opportunities to protect both (Kimberley) and her older sister and to assess the risk posed by (Otak).”

The review, led by Professor Pat Cantrill, said Kimberley became know to social services in 2007 due to challenging behaviour at home, use of drugs and alcohol, going missing and possible child sex exploitation.

She was placed in a residential home and then with various foster carers until a decision was taken to move her out of the Wakefield area. The report said she returned to the city in 2011 but concerns continued about her welfare, including about sexual exploitation.

It said Kimberley expressed concerns on several occasions about the domestic abuse suffered by her elder sister and threats made to Elisa by Otak.

The report said: “Professionals had met with (Kimberley’s) older sister on several occasions and offered advice and support in relation to domestic abuse and alternative accommodation. (Kimberley’s) older sister subsequently separated from her boyfriend.”

The review also found police were alerted to a number of domestic violence incidents involving Otak and Elisa prior to the murder in March last year.

In one, the Youth Development and Support Service reported that Elisa contacted them to say Otak had chased her and threatened to stab her but attempts by officers to contact her were unsuccessful.

According to today’s report, a friend told officers the relationship had become increasingly violent.

“(Otak) was alleged to have held knives to older sister’s throat and had made her sever ties with her family and friends. (Kimberley’s) friend disclosed that older sister had stated that if she were to leave (Otak) that he would throw acid in her face, kill her and members of her family.

“(Kimberley’s) friend said that she was reporting this on (Kimberley’s) older sister’s behalf as she was too frightened to report this to the police.”

Elisa was interviewed by officers but refused to make a statement or have Otak arrested. The Police Safeguarding Unit was notified of the incident, a risk assessment was completed and a grading of “high risk” was agreed. But Elisa told police she did not require any more help from them.

The report concluded: “There is significant evidence that West Yorkshire Police provided support to (Kimberley’s) older sister following referrals related to concerns about her relationship with (Otak). There were difficulties in getting her to engage, she refused assistance and did not want any police involvement.

“There is considerable evidence that this was as a result of her fear of what he would do to her and her family.”

The review found Otak was also well known to social services.

He arrived in Wakefield as as asylum seeker, saying he was 15, in 2007. He said he had fled Afghanistan with his younger brother after witnessing the death of his parents and sister during the war. He escaped the country rather than having to fight for the Taliban but got separated from his brother.

He was granted five years humanitarian protection to remain in the UK in 2009. The report said it appears likely that Otak first met Kimberley and Elisa when they were in the same children’s home from December 2007 to March 2008.