Police failed to act quickly enough on the escalating risk posed by an estranged husband to his wife before he brutally stabbed her to death at his Perth home, a coronial inquest has found.
Paul Cannon murdered 51-year-old Lynn Cannon in Landsdale, north of Perth, in 2022.
A coronial inquest examining the police response on the day has found no individual officer directly caused Ms Cannon’s death, but there was a failure to recognise the risk Paul Cannon posed.
Police told of concerns
Ms Cannon’s family had raised concerns with police about her welfare the day she died.
“They knew that her former husband had just become aware that Lynn had found love with a new partner and he had reacted aggressively,” Acting State Coroner Sarah Linton said.
Ms Cannon was visiting Cannon’s house to drop off paperwork around 3.30pm on December 5, 2022.
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Her family say they did not hear from her for hours, which was unusual.
Ms Cannon was stabbed around 8.10pm that night.
The inquest heard earlier that day, Cannon had arrived unannounced at his estranged wife’s home and let himself in.
He was trying to recoup $600 he had previously repaid to her, and during an argument over the money, had pulled out a large kitchen knife and said “I’ll f**king kill you”.
Ms Cannon agreed to go to Cannon’s home later that day to drop off vehicle transfer paperwork, as he was taking over ownership of her car.
An argument ensued that afternoon at his home which was loud enough to be heard by a neighbour.
Threats to kill
Ms Cannon’s family became concerned when they couldn’t contact her, and her sister Christine Holmes alerted police at 7.30pm that she had not been seen since the afternoon.
Ms Holmes told the call operator Paul Cannon had gone to Ms Cannon’s home earlier that day and threatened to kill her with a knife.
A record of the call notes “caller has witnessed Paul Cannon being violent towards Lynn in the past, they are very worried for her safety”, and the case was allocated a Priority 2 — immediate or imminent threat.
Lynn Cannon was murdered a day after her 51st birthday. (Supplied)
But an internal inquiry found police downgraded the priority rating and redirected police enquiries to Ms Cannon’s address rather than to Paul Cannon’s residence.
“There was also a lack of police assets available and an unusually high volume of calls received that night, which delayed police attendance at Paul Cannon’s house,” Ms Linton said.
By the time officers arrived, Ms Cannon had been stabbed several times with a kitchen knife and was unresponsive.
Cannon is serving a term of life imprisonment for her murder.
Police did not act quickly enough
The coroner said police were too slow to act on information provided by Ms Cannon’s family.
“Her family realised on the afternoon she went missing that something was seriously wrong, but those risks were not recognised and acted upon quickly enough by the police,” Ms Linton said.
However, she did not disagree with the findings of a WA Police Internal Affairs Unit investigation which found only one officer had acted outside the scope of policy and training.
“The evidence before me at this inquest does not suggest that the IAU investigation was wrong,” Ms Linton said.
Coercive control
The coroner acknowledged staff were working in a high pressure and stressful environment which contributed to the “general failure amongst most of the staff” in recognising the escalating risk.
“There were key indicators that Lynn’s safety was at imminent risk at the time leading up to her death, noting Paul Cannon’s coercive and controlling behaviour was clearly escalating in the final days of Lynn’s life,” Ms Linton said.
“There seems little doubt, with the benefit of hindsight, the individual officers involved would have reacted differently and made different decisions if they had fully understood the seriousness of the situation unfolding at Paul Cannon’s house.”
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