Murder of Francis McNally in the Groves sparks serious case review

It will look into the circumstances surrounding the death of 35-year-old Francis McNally, who was murdered at a house in Markham Crescent in October 2021 after meeting two men in an off-licence.

Curtis Turpin, 35, and Adam Craig Hudson, 41, were convicted of Mr McNally’s murder on Thursday following a nine day trial at Leeds Crown Court.

Mr McNally’s death, and the death of another man at the same property in the same week, caused consternation in the Groves area of York and beyond.

Residents had been repeatedly reporting anti-social behaviour in Markham Crescent for months, with one saying Mr McNally’s death had been “a great tragedy” that could have been avoided if preventative action had been taken.

It was revealed during the trial that Turpin had 40 previous convictions, while Hudson had caused a man’s death by riding into a man on a stolen motorbike when he was 18 years’ old.

During a meeting earlier this week, Guildhall ward councillor Fiona Fitzpatrick, who has been supporting residents of the Groves, asked York’s head of community safety Jane Mowat when people could expect to see a report about the lessons learned from Mr McNally’s death and the period leading up to it.

Cllr Fiona Fitzpatrick (Image: Staff)

Ms Mowat said she had been told NHS England had commissioned a serious case review.

She said: “When a serious case review takes place, all aspects of the work are scrutinised. That includes the role of the local authority, not just a focus on the health aspects – it will focus on every aspect and every partner that was involved.

“So the decision that I took was, rather than try to pull something together internally, was to wait until the conclusion of that serious case review, which I understand will be presented to the safeguarding adults board at some point when it is concluded.”

Ms Mowat said she did not yet know when the review would take place.

She added: “I feel that is the appropriate way to go because if something is subject to a review by NHS England, they are better placed to scrutinise independently of all of those organisations that were involved.”

Cllr Fitzpatrick said after the meeting: “I have been concerned to try to support residents throughout this whole process, which has been extremely traumatic for all involved.

“I hope that through the serious case review we do everything we can to try to ensure that this does not happen again in York.”

Local authorities have a legal duty to carry out safeguarding adults reviews (previously called serious case reviews) when someone with care and support needs dies as a result of neglect or abuse and there is a concern that the local authority or its partners could have done more to protect them.

The purpose of the review is to “promote effective learning and improvement action to prevent future deaths or serious harm occurring again”.