A university lecturer begged police to arrest her abusive ex-husband Paul Butler just hours before he murdered her, friends have revealed.
Claire Chick, 48, was stabbed to death in Plymouth on January 22 – prompting a nationwide manhunt for Butler, who fled the city and was found 20 miles away.
At court, the 53-year-old pleaded guilty to her murder and another charge of possession of a bladed article.
Jo Taylor, a close friend, accused cops of ‘doing nothing’ and revealed Claire had regularly called for help after ‘evil’ Butler stalked and attacked her – including on the morning of January 22, the day of her murder.
She witnessed: ‘He hounded her, he climbed in her car when she was driving, he tried to break into her house so she had to get cameras fitted.
‘She reported everything to the police but they did nothing, they would ring him and speak to him but that was it.
‘The day he murdered her she had been called in to the police that morning and they just did nothing, they spoke to him and let him go.
‘The police did not listen, she called them almost every week from when they separated in September telling them what he was doing.
She concluded, ‘Nobody protected Claire.’
