Convicted rapist allowed to join college where he met vulnerable woman he murdered, inquest hears

Multiple failures by police, probation services and an NHS trust allowed a convicted rapist to enroll at a college where he befriended a vulnerable young woman he later murdered, an inquest found.

Simon Goold, 52, was jailed for life after he raped then strangled to death Elizabeth McCann, 26, a fellow student at the Health and Wellbeing college in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.

It was known that Goold, who had been convicted of rape, sexual assault and wounding in 2010, posed a danger to “lone women in certain circumstances”, particularly when alcohol was involved or when he felt rejected.

Allowed to join college without risk assessment

However, he was allowed to join the college without a risk assessment taking place, the inquest heard.

The lack of checks “probably” contributed to Ms McCann’s death, senior coroner Alison Mutch said.

Probation services and police also failed to properly act upon a number of warning signs, including Goold informing them he had had a relapse with alcohol and an admission that a woman he hoped to become ‘intimate’ with had decided not to pursue the relationship.

But police and probation “failed to exhibit any professional curiosity”, probably due to their “large workloads”, wrote Ms Mutch.

“It is possible that this lack of action by Greater Manchester Police and probation contributed to Elizabeth’s death,” she added.

The inquest also heard the college, which is run by NHS mental health trust Pennine Care, and probation had failed to set up an effective referral system to manage high risk students such as Goold.

Wetherspoons incident not recognised

An incident in a Wetherspoons pub in Ashton in July 2022, where an inebriated Goold tried to kiss Ms McCann’s friend Gaynor Hammerton, a former student turned volunteer at the college, was not recognised as “high risk” by the college.

That meant the college’s senior manager failed to inform probation services and instead dealt with the incident “informally” by speaking with Goold to tell him his behaviour was inappropriate.

Ms Mutch wrote: “As a consequence [Goold] continued at the college and probation were unaware of these events and no action was taken by them. It is probable that had there not been a failure to share the July 2022 incident which was caused by the previous failures Elizabeth McCann would not have died on the day she did.”

Ms Mutch recorded a conclusion of unlawful killing.

In February 2023, Goold, of Manchester Road in Ashton, was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 35 years at Manchester Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to murder, rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration on the second day of his trial.

Deliberately targeted Ms McCann

The court heard he had deliberately targeted Ms McCann, of Hyde, after seeing her at the college.

On Aug 25, 2022, he met her at a pub in Ashton, where he plied her with drinks until he took her back to his flat where he raped and strangled her, before reporting her death to the police the next day.

Dr Simon Sandhu, medical director at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We want to offer our sincere condolences and apologies to Elizabeth’s family.

‘Significant failings’

“We fully accept the conclusion of the coroner who found that significant failings at the college where Elizabeth was enrolled probably contributed to her death.

“We are now commissioning an independent review of the college which will consider all the findings from the inquest. We are committed to the safety of all our students and we are truly sorry that we failed to have systems and processes in place that could have protected Elizabeth.”

‘Horrific crime’

A Probation Service spokesperson said: “This was a horrific crime and we have apologised to Elizabeth McCann’s loved ones for the failings in this case.

“We have taken steps to address the issues identified in the report and inquest, including improving information sharing and recruiting thousands more probation staff across the country.

“In light of the coroner’s findings, we will further review our next steps to ensure we have taken any action needed to keep the public safe.”

‘Thoughts and sincere condolences’

A GMP spokesperson said: “Our thoughts and sincere condolences remain with Elizabeth’s family. We respect the findings made by the coroner around case handling and offender management.

“A full review has taken place to ensure that we continue to make further improvements in these areas, while also providing the best possible care and protection to those the force comes into contact with.”