True Crime Collection

Shana Grice

Shana had met Michael Lane in 2015 when they both worked at Brighton Fire Alarms. Michael was from Thornhill Rise, Portslade, near Brighton. They formed a relationship and Michael had become obsessed with her. He refused to accept the breakup and said to a friend "She'll pay for what she's done."

Michael Lane stalked her after she broke up with him and returned to her previous boyfriend, Ashley Cooke. Michael put a tracker device on her car which notified via his mobile phone every time the car moved. 

On 8th February 2016, Shana complained to police about being stalked by Michael after receiving unwanted flowers and damage to her car. 

On 24th March, Michael snatched her phone and grabbed her hair. He was arrested on suspicion of assault but later released and Shana was issued a fixed penalty notice by the police for wasting their time by not disclosing she had been in a relationship with him. 

On 9th July, Michael used a stolen key to let himself into her home and watch her while she was apparently sleeping. She was actually awake, had heard his footsteps and hid under the duvet. She heard a man breathing in her room. Shortly afterwards, the man left, and when Shana looked out her window she saw Michael walked away. He was arrested for theft, given a police caution and told to stay away from Shana.

The following day, she received around 7 phone calls from a blocked number, including 1 with heavy breathing. She was told there were no further lines of inquiry and the case would be left on file.

On 12th July, she reported to police that she was being followed by Michael. Police treated the case as "low risk", but that the investigating officer would be made aware. 

On 4th August, she saw Michael loitering outside her home. She confided in her friend Joann Pumphrey that she was afraid that police wouldn't believe her because of her previous fine for wasting police time. Although Joann was a witness to this, Shana didn't report the incident to the police. 

On 25th August, Michael waited until Shana was alone at home, then let himself in, slit her throat and set fire to her bedroom. She was 19 years old at the time of her murder and her killer was 27 years old. Her body was found by Ian Cooke, her boyfriend's father, in her home at Chrisdory Road, Portslade, East Sussex. 

Michael Lane was arrested the same day at his then workplace in Burgess Hill. He initially lied to police about his movements that day, before admitting that he had gone to Shana Grice's home. He claimed that he had found the front door open, then found Shana's body in her bedroom. He claimed that he panicked, then left the scene without dealing 999, checking Shana's vital signs or telling his family what he had found. He claimed that he only kept quiet about what he had seen because he was afraid of being accused of her murder.

The trial lasted 2 weeks in Lewes Crown Court. After being found guilty Michael was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 25 years. 

Shana Grice's parents, Sharon Grice and Richard Green, said their daughter would still be alive if Sussex Police had acted on her complaints. The judge, Justice Green, also criticised police. During sentencing he said "There was seemingly no appreciation on the part of those investigating that a young woman in a sexual relationship with a man could at one and the same time be vulnerable and at risk of serious harm. The police jumped to conclusions and Shana was stereotyped." 

Sussex police also revealed that Michael Lane had been the subject of complaints from 13 other women. Most of the complaints related to the 3 years before Shana Grice's murder, except for 1 which allegedly occurred within the preceding 10 years. 

A domestic homicide review report concluded that Michael Lane had harassed 12 girls and young women between 2006 and 2016 and he had been arrested over claims he groomed a 14 year old girl. He was not charged over the 2010 grooming allegation, which was marked on his arrest record, but it was not noted when Shana Grice reported him for harassment. The allegation dates to when he was a volunteer scout leader. After his arrest he resigned from the Scouts. He was told the allegation would be considered if he tried to rejoin the organisation, but when he did so in 2015 he was not recognised as a past member and he volunteered for several months. The failure to recognise him was put down to a "temporary glitch in the IT system." 

The report said that Michael had "used youth movements, which appealed to young women and girls, to allow him access to victims." 

The report also mentioned an account of Michael's being "very controlling" in another relationship, of him bombarding women with explicit messages, loitering outside their homes, pestering women to sleep with him for money, harassing 2 woman he met in a pub and sexually assaulting another women. 

In August 2019 it was announced that Sussex Police would no longer fine people reporting domestic abuse for wasting police time.

Sussex Police apologised to Shana's parents and referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which launched an inquiry.

In late April 2017, Sussex Police accepted 6 recommendations from the IPCC to improve the way the force dealt with stalking. The recommendations concerned training, data systems and making use of relevant information. IPCC associate commissioner Tom Milsom said that Sussex Police had taken a positive response to the recommendations and he said that "Stalking and harassment are serious offences and in certain situations, such as those involving Shana, can have tragic consequences." Detective Superintendent Jason Tingley of Sussex Police said that additional training was already being provided and "We have improved our understanding of what stalking and harassment is and what our response should be." 

In April 2019 a report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services concluded that stalking and harassment offences were not being properly investigated by Sussex Police. The report said that a training programme introduced after Shana Grice's murder to help staff understand and identify stalking "was never fully completed". Most investigating officers had received no training. Not enough victims were being referred to support services and there was concern over online stalking. Police forces nationally were not using powers under stalking laws to search suspects' homes, which made investigations less thorough. Injunctions were not being used, so victims were not being properly protected. The National Police Chiefs' Council was called on to make sure police forces around the UK make improvements and that a single definition of stalking be adopted by police forces and government departments.

In April 2019 it was announced that 3 police officers would face disciplinary action the following May. 2 officers, 1 retired, faced gross misconduct proceedings, whilst another officer was accused of misconduct. 

PC Jon Barry Mills resigned from the police before a disciplinary hearing on 10th May 2019. One allegation against Jon is that he failed to "adequately investigate allegations of harassment and stalking" - this relates to 9th July 2016, when Shana Grice complained Michael had stolen her back door key, crept into her bedroom and watched her sleeping. Shana Grice made a further complaint on 12th July of Michael following her in his car, but PC Mills "failed to contact Ms Grice or update her regarding the reported incident". She was not called back and a few days later received a letter stating that the "case was closed". Friends said she was angry and could not believe the police had dropped the case and had not reported further instances of stalking as a result. It was the last time she contacted police before Michael murdered her in August.

When questioned, PC Mills said he was alarmed by some of Michael's behaviour and admitted that his failure to properly question him was an oversight. 

PC Mill's first name was initially not released in an attempt by lawyers to conceal his identity.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which was formed in 2018 and took over some of the IPCC's functions, stated: "Resigning from the force does not preclude officers from facing misconduct hearings." 

A force disciplinary panel ruled that PC Mill's failings amounted to gross misconduct and that he had not resigned he would have been dismissed from the police force. 

Former PC Trevor Godfrey was found by a disciplinary panel in July 2019 to have committed misconduct by not investigating Shana Grice's complaints of harassment, but that he had not committed gross misconduct. He had issued Shana with a warning for wasting police time and decided to take no further action against Michael Lane. Trevor had since retired, but would not have been sacked if he had still been working. Shana Grice's parents said the misconduct charge was "a joke, and the hearing a sham".