TRURO, CORNWALL — Michaela Hall’s family has launched a legal challenge against Devon and Cornwall Police and the Probation Service, alleging systemic failures that led to her murder in Truro, Cornwall on 1 June 2021. The lawsuit claims the agencies violated her right to life and right to protection under the Human Rights Act.
Hall was murdered by her partner, Lee Kendall, who is serving a 21-year minimum sentence for stabbing her through the eye. Kendall had previously been convicted of two assaults on Hall, and police had received 34 pieces of intelligence about his domestic abuse. On 31 May 2021—the day before her death—a friend called Crimestoppers to report that Hall was being strangled. Officers responded but failed to enter her home. One was recorded saying, “What can you do? She doesn’t help herself,” as they drove away.
Peter Hall, Michaela’s father, found her body after police had visited the property three times without entering. He said officers never explained or apologized for their inaction. He stated that a police officer wrote Kendall’s prior strangulation attempt on a piece of scrap paper, and it was never shared with the Probation Service. Peter Hall also recalled that an officer speculated aloud that Kendall “could be in there with his hand over her mouth.” He added, “Why didn’t the police just do their job? Their attitude was: ‘This is just a silly woman living with a violent guy and she deserves all she can get.’” He said, “The Probation Service should never have let this guy out of prison.”
Shaun Hall, Michaela’s son, said in an Instagram video: “They made too many mistakes and did not take her situation seriously enough, which led to her death. If these mistakes hadn’t been made, then my mum could still be here today. All of this happened when I was younger. Now that I’m 18, I want to tell my mum’s story and help prevent this happening to other families.” He also said, “My mum was a victim of domestic abuse, which led to her murder by her partner. The police and Probation Service were aware of my mum’s situation. A dispute would have happened and then the police would show up. Quite a few times they came over and they were too late and it just made things worse.”
A 2022 investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct found the police response was “unacceptable.” The reviewer stated, “In view of the incident reported and the serious history of domestic abuse, the officers in my view ought to have done more.” In 2024, a coroner concluded Hall’s murder was “entirely foreseeable” and preventable. The Probation Service had assessed Kendall as “medium risk” despite his convictions.
Cat Knight, a solicitor at the Good Law Project representing the family, said: “The criminal justice system is failing women and putting them in danger. It’s time for the police and Probation Service to treat domestic abuse as a threat to life and tackle it with the urgency it demands.” Devon and Cornwall Police stated the two officers underwent a “reflective practice review” and claimed “no police actions were attributable to her death.”