TWO North Wales Police (NWP) officers will face misconduct hearings over the handling of the case into the brutal murder of Rossett restaurateur Nicholas Churton.

Mr Churton, 67, was murdered at his home in Crescent Close, Caia Park, Wrexham, in March last year by Jordan Davidson who was on licence at the time of the attack, having been released from prison in December 2016.

Davidson, who had a long criminal history and attacked the former restaurant owner using a hammer and machete, was sentenced to at least 23 years in prison in December last year.

Mr Churton had complained to police in the weeks prior to his death after threats were made against him by Davidson, who had been placed in accommodation near to his home.

An investigation into NWP's contact with Mr Churton by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has now identified cases to answer for misconduct for two officers and urged the force to review procedures in recognising vulnerability after revealing the disabled pensioner had been told by an officer to find out Davidson's name for himself following a phone call just four days before he was killed.

A spokesman for the IOPC, said: "We have completed our investigation into NWP contact with Mr Churton in the 11 days prior to his death including their response to his call that a man called Jordan had been in his home.

"We are continuing a second investigation into NWP’s contact with Davidson following his release from prison on licence in December 2016 in the period leading up to the murder of Mr Churton.

"Our first investigation has found that Mr Churton called NWP on March 14, 2017 to report that two days earlier he had been threatened with a hammer in his home by a man called Jordan who tried to steal his television and stole his house keys. Later that day, a police officer called Mr Churton back to take further details about Jordan.

"The officer recorded the incident as theft rather than as a robbery which may have influenced the level of threat and the risk assessment made in respect of Mr Churton. Details of a neighbour identified by Mr Churton who may have had more information about Davidson were not recorded and vulnerability factors were not correctly identified despite there being a number of issues to indicate Mr Churton was vulnerable.

"The occurrence on the incident log was viewed by three further supervisors who also failed to identify that the circumstances amounted to a robbery and not a theft."

Further investigations revealed that on March 21, the same police officer called Mr Churton again to obtain further details about ‘Jordan’ and advised him that he should speak to his friends to try to find out the suspect’s details himself.

Mr Churton called NWP two days later to tell them the full name was Jordan Davidson. Four days later, he was found dead at his home and Davidson was arrested for murder.

IOPC Director for Wales Catrin Evans said: “This was a horrific murder and the responsibility for Mr Churton’s death lies squarely with Jordan Davidson. My thoughts remain with Mr Churton’s family and friends.

“Our first investigation found there were areas for improvement in police recognising Mr Churton’s vulnerability and ensuring all available information was recorded accurately. Police requesting a vulnerable victim of crime carry out a line of enquiry themselves to find out who the offender was, has, in my view, the potential to increase the risk to the victim.

“I am discussing the learning identified during the course of this investigation with North Wales Police. We are progressing our further enquiries into how the force handled Davidson after his release from prison and their liaison with other agencies.”

Following the investigation, NWP has agreed that a police officer has a case to answer for misconduct over allegations that the log in relation to the incident on March 12 was inaccurate, key information was omitted and that the officer’s risk assessment did not adequately take into account Mr Churton’s vulnerability.

The force has also agreed that a police sergeant has a case to answer for misconduct for allegedly failing to identify the urgency of the response needed in the circumstances in reviewing the officer’s actions.

Another police sergeant and an acting inspector are also being dealt with by the force by way of management action although a call handler who took Mr Churton's initial call left their role in August this year.

Detective Superintendent Dan Tipton acknowledged the IOPC findings in relation to North Wales Police’s contact with murder victim Nicholas Churton.

"I recognise that this is a difficult time for Mr Churton’s family and I know how important it is for the family to fully understand the circumstances leading up to his tragic death.

"Since Mr Churton’s murder we have reviewed our policies and procedures in relation to risk assessment following calls made to our control room and the deployment of officers.

"We will now be holding a number of formal disciplinary proceedings in line with the IOPC recommendations."

The IOPC confirmed they will consider publishing their investigation reports at the end of the second investigation and after any potential misconduct proceedings.