Lincoln inquest begins into death of Grantham woman Daniela Espirito Santo
A young mother displayed numerous signs of domestic abuse in her initial dealings with police nearly a year before her death, an inquest has heard.
The jury inquest into Daniela Espírito Santo’s death opened today (Tuesday, October 1) in Lincoln, when jurors heard that Daniela told one officer she had been assaulted by her partner two years before she first called police.
Daniela had reported domestic abuse by her partner, Julio Jesus, a number of times in the year before her death.
On the morning of April 9, 2020, Daniela called the police after Mr Jesus pinned her down and pressed his forearm against her throat.
He was arrested but later bailed with conditions to stay away from their home.
However, later that evening, he returned to the couple’s Chestnut Grove apartment in Grantham and assaulted her once more. Daniela again called the police, but since Jesus had left the building, the operator initially told her to call the non-emergency number 101.
Despite realising their mistake and organising a police response, Daniela was left on hold. Audio of the call was said to include the sound of a baby crying, but Daniela could not be heard.
Officers attended the premises but were unable to access the flat until forcing entry at 11.35pm, where they found Daniela.
An ambulance was called, but efforts to resuscitate Daniela were unsuccessful.
The National Domestic Violence Helpline is a 24hr Freephone available on 0808 2000 247 operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The inquest heard a number of recordings of calls Daniela made to police on May 18 and November 6, 2019, including one where Daniela was distressed and breathless, shouting at the operator as she took the call.
Two officers who attended the calls gave evidence, describing the actions they took.
PC Miller attended the first incident on May 19, 2019, when Daniela first reported Mr Jesus to the police following a verbal domestic incident where he had refused to leave. He had left the property by the time officers arrived.
PC Miller attended the flat with a colleague and documented the incident using a Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment questionnaire (DASH).
During the assessment, Daniela told officers that Mr Jesus had slapped and choked her. This was not investigated due to strangulation at the time being considered common assault and past the deadline for reporting.
The officer assessed the risk as “standard,” indicating a low risk of immediate serious harm.
However, Emma-Louise Fenelon, the family’s counsel, pointed out that the DASH form revealed 11 risk indicators, including the previous incident, drug abuse, jealousy, isolation, and financial issues related to drugs.
Mrs Fenelon also questioned officers about how much background research they had done when attending the incidents.
The officer did not refer the victim to independent domestic violence advocates or consider coercive and controlling behaviour.
PC Miller was questioned about his training, risk assessment, and decision-making processes.
He acknowledged that he could have recorded more detailed information in the risk justification box and should have considered the indicators of coercive and controlling behaviour.
However, he stated that he did not have a clear recollection of the full conversation with Daniela and that his rationale at the time was based on the information he had available.
Sergeants also review DASH forms.
Daniela had also made two missing persons reports about Mr Jesus to the police between the two domestic abuse incidents. In both instances, Jesus returned to the family home.
PC Faulkes attended one of the missing persons reports on September 7 and also an assault report on November 6 although he did not attend another missing person report on November 5.
PC Faulkes said Mr Jesus had made comments about self-harm but returned home voluntarily.
At the time, Daniela was pregnant with the couple’s second child, and PC Faulkes said he understood there had been “a lot of stress with a young child at the address”.
Officers had no concerns at the reunion.
During the following incident in November, Daniela made a further allegation of assault. However, when officers arrived, she was said to be agitated and hostile towards the police. Mr Jesus was not present at the time, and those in the house included her children and her mother.
Daniela was taken to the kitchen to calm down, where officers spoke to her. However, during the conversation, she took a turn for the worse, with the colour draining from her face and her looking as if she was about to pass out.
At that point, she disclosed that she had heart complications but declined medical treatment.
Daniela disclosed that in a previous incident on November 4, Mr Jesus had "grabbed her arm and grabbed her jaw and moved her out of the way at the door," which had left a red mark on her arm.
However, on the day of the November 6 incident, Daniela told the officers that Mr Jesus had tried to leave the address, and when she tried to prevent him by standing in his way, he moved her out of the way and left the location without causing injury.
She was described as becoming increasingly agitated when one officer began asking about the children, and officers noted she feared losing custody of them.
In both instances, Daniela refused to take the matter further and refused referral to services that might help.
A further DASH assessment was carried out, and in this case, officers concluded Daniela was at medium risk due to the previous violence, substance use, and financial issues.
Officers later revisited the house to confirm Daniela’s decision not to press charges and found both her and Jesus returning from what appeared to have been a trip out with the family.
PC Faulkes said they were “happy and smiling,” adding: “It was almost as if the incident we went to earlier in the day never happened.”
Mrs Fenelon again asked if police should have made a referral, noting that in the latest DASH report, there were nine indicators of domestic violence, with the only difference being that Daniela was no longer pregnant.
She asked if police should have made a referral to an Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA), contrary to Daniela’s wishes, to provide additional support and resources given the concerning domestic abuse dynamics that were present.
PC Faulkes admitted it was a consideration and said that in hindsight, it could have been done.
The jury was told that a pathologist had said Daniela died following an acute deterioration of an existing heart condition.
Dr Hollingbury noted Daniela had been involved in altercations with her partner that day.
She said: “It is recognised that being involved in stressful events can have an adverse effect on cardiac function and increase the risk of a dysrhythmic event occurring.
“I am not aware of any reports of Ms Espírito Santo feeling unwell following the alleged incident from the morning of April 9, 2020.
“I’m therefore of the opinion that the time between this incident and her death is such that it cannot be said with any certainty that the incident has precipitated the deterioration in her heart function.”
However, in terms of the evening incident, following which Daniela was found collapsed after calling emergency services, she said: “The information provided to me suggests there is a short time period between this incident, Ms Espirito Santo’s call to emergency services and her being found collapsed.
“In the absence of any other explanation for a deterioration in Ms Espírito Santo's heart function, it is my opinion that the timing of events is such that, should the court agree that an altercation has taken place and that Ms Espírito Santo’s heart function was stable prior to this event, this has been the precipitating factor in the deterioration of her heart disease, and she would not have died when she did were it not for this incident.”
The pathology report found a number of bruises and injuries to Daniela’s forearms, face, and ribs, though it could not necessarily link many of them to injuries sustained in a situation such as Daniela defending herself from a throat compression.
She said the rib injuries were typical of injuries sustained as a result of CPR.
No drugs or alcohol were found in Daniela’s system.
A family statement was also read out during the inquest from Daniela’s stepfather, Joaquim Meinedo, who described her as a “strong” character who liked to work.
Daniela worked full-time as a carer for elderly people, often taking on multiple shifts a day.
She loved her two children and was close-knit with her family.
“Daniela was a very happy person and had lots of friends,” he said.
“She was the mother of the group and looked after everyone.”
He said Daniela knew about her heart condition and was sure she would have accepted medical help if the police had called an ambulance.
Mr Meinedo said Daniela’s relationship had “seemed good at first,” but over the five years they were together, “he became more violent and controlling and did not like her seeing anyone.”
He said Daniela had become “trapped” in her relationship and more introverted, finding it difficult to handle the couple’s financial problems.
He described how her mother, Isabella, and he had become increasingly concerned about the relationship.
“We worried about her and the children because of the abuse.”
“I cannot describe how I felt when the police told me Daniela had died; everything went blank, and I did not know how to react. It took a long while to sink in,” he added.
The pair have looked after Daniela’s young children since her death.
The family has called on the inquest to answer questions about Lincolnshire Police’s response to Daniela’s complaints and the safeguarding procedures in place to protect her and others from further abuse.
Police have previously faced criticism for their handling of the case, given the escalating severity of the abuse.
Although police conduct was reviewed by the IOPC, no major breaches of protocol were found.
The inquest continues.
