The mother of a Plymouth man killed by a couple in a calculated revenge attack today told senior judges he might still be alive had police done their job properly.
The mother of murdered Keith Dance has gone to the High Court to request a new inquest into his death.
Susan Flower says had officers adequately investigated an ominous attack on Mr Dance two days before he died, steps could have been taken to protect him.
On March 8 2013, Keith phoned the police to report that his eventual killer, Jacqueline Cooke, had assaulted him with a knife, London's High Court heard.
And, in a phone call lasting half an hour, Mr Dance said he had found one of his teddy bears "hanging from a lightbulb", said barrister, Jude Bunting.
The toy was wearing Mr Dance's Yeovil Town hat and had a knife stuck in it, London's High Court was told.
In the early hours of March 12, Cooke phoned the police and told them she had stabbed Mr Dance at his flat two days previously.
Officers found his body and Cooke, along with her former partner, Ian Gollop, were arrested and charged.
In what was described as a "calculated revenge attack", Mr Dance had been knifed, strangled and savagely beaten.
Cooke, who claimed to have been assaulted by Mr Dance, had stabbed him in the head and neck and carved the word "whatever" into his stomach.
Cooke and Gollop were jailed for life for his murder in August 2013 after a judge described it as "a calculated revenge attack".
The inquest into Mr Dance's death had been adjourned pending the outcome of the murder trial.
And once Cooke and Gollop were convicted and jailed, the Devon coroner completed the inquest without hearing any further evidence.
Now, in a case which raises novel legal issues, Mrs Flower is asking two senior judges to order a fresh inquest.
Mr Bunting said crucial "fresh evidence" had emerged since the coroner's decision.
That evidence "suggests that the police had received a complaint of assault from the deceased, and that there were serious failings to follow up that complaint", he added.
And he told the court that justice demands a new inquest "to determine whether state failings caused or contributed to the death of the deceased".
Mr Bunting said the application to the High Court had been sanctioned by the Attorney General, Jeremy Wright QC.
The coroner and the Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police are legally represented, but are taking a "neutral" stance.
Lord Justice McCombe and Judge Peter Thornton QC are expected to reserve their decision on Mrs Flower's case.
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