Police sergeant joked about strangulation while dealing with domestic assault of young mother who was later found dead in her home, inquest heard

A police sergeant joked about strangulation while dealing with a domestic assault against a young mother who was later found dead at home, an inquest heard.

Daniela Espírito Santo, 23, died while being detained by police for eight minutes while reporting an attack by her ex-partner Júlio Jesus, an inquest jury heard.

A coroner heard that hours before the mother-of-two was found unconscious in April 2020, custody sergeant Pete Andrews made a joke about strangulation while discussing the case with a colleague.

Jesus was arrested the day before Espírito Sano’s death over an allegation that he held her down and pushed his arm against her throat. He was remanded in custody for questioning before being released on bail the same evening with instructions to stay away from her address.

Shaheen Rahman, representing Ms Holy Spirit’s family, made reference to a transcript of a conversation between PC Matthew Fromm and Sgt Andrews that was taken from CCTV footage while Mr Jesus was in custody.

PC Fromm, who witnessed the incident that morning, referred to the alleged strangulation of Mrs Espirito Santo and another case and stated, ‘that seems to be every two days’.

Mother of two children, Daniela Espírito Santo died while being detained by the police to report an assault

Espírito Santo woman told police officers that Jesus slapped and choked her

“Three, including my boss,” Sergeant Andrews responded, with the transcript stating that the officer had put his hand to his throat.

Addressing Sergeant Andrews, Ms Rahman said: ‘You simply didn’t take the risk to Daniela seriously.’

Sergeant Andrews said it was an “off-the-cuff comment” in relation to his “own marital problems”.

“I sincerely apologize to the family,” he added.

The Lincoln inquest jury heard that Mr Jesus, now 34, breached bail conditions by calling Mrs Espirito Santo and returning to his property later that night, the inquest heard.

She called 999 to report another domestic incident at 11.21pm BST the same day.

The court heard Ms Espirito Santo told 999 caller Anthony Nunns that she was “covered in redness” and that Mr Jesus was “pushing me out of the way and things like that”.

Mr Nunns advised Ms Espirito Santo to call 101 – the force’s non-emergency number – as he “identified there was no immediate risk” because Mr Jesus had left the property.

Officers were then sent to the property when Mr Nunns noticed the address had a “critical marker” next to it.

After being on hold for eight minutes, Ms Espirito Santo was transferred to a 101 call handler shortly after 11.30pm that night. But all the coach could hear were the cries of Mrs. Espírito Santo’s six-month-old baby.

Ms Espirito Santo died at her home in Grantham on April 8, 2020 after reporting her boyfriend

An ambulance was called and CPR was performed, but the mother was pronounced dead shortly before 1am on April 9, 2020.

A report by pathologist Dr Francis Hollingbury highlighted that the post-mortem examination showed that Mrs Espirito Santo, who suffered from a heart condition known as myocarditis, died as a “result of acute deterioration of the heart”.

Dr Hollingbury’s report found that Ms Espirito Santo suffered injuries to her forehead, cheek and jaw before she died and that she also had bruises on her chest and right arm. No drugs or alcohol were found in his system.

The inquest has previously heard that Ms Espirito Santo first reported Mr Jesus to police in May 2019, following a verbal domestic incident from which he refused to leave.

Following this incident, a PC completed a Domestic Assault, Stalking and Harassment (DASH) form and during that assessment, Ms. Espírito Santo said Mr. Jesus slapped and choked her. This was not investigated due to the strangulation at the time being considered common assault and exceeding the reporting deadline.

Sergeant Andrews told the court he had no knowledge of the previous story and admitted he might have reconsidered Mr Jesus’ bail if he had known.

The investigation continues.