Georgia Williams' parents: Incompetence and stupidity allowed evil man to roam free

It was so obvious that Reynolds was, if not one already, a murderer in the making. Georgia's death could have been prevented – learn that if nothing else.

We appreciate West Mercia Police initiating this report having recognised that the 2008 investigation was inadequate to say the least.

They are the ones we rely on in times of crisis. Police, doctors, nurses, social workers, mental health professionals; they should be our defence and protection in the face of crime, danger or illness.

But, all too often it seems, we are let down. To be fair, in thousands of criminal cases and hundreds of thousands of medical cases every week across this country these public servants get it right. The problem is that when they get it wrong, the results are frequently disastrous.

West Mercia Police and the various agencies that failed to protect teenager Georgia Williams from Jamie Reynolds have admitted they were at fault. But the lives of her family and friends are still indelibly scarred by the fact of 17-year-old Georgia's murder in May , 2013. Georgia's parents have criticised the 'chaos, incompetence, complacency and don't care attitude' that contributed to her death.

West Mercia Police have insisted lessons have been learned following the case and that 'considerable changes' have been made to ensure a tragedy of this magnitude never happens again.

But the mistakes continue.

We have all seen the series of adverts on television advising us of the danger signals of a stroke. And yet doctors at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton twice missed the chance to prevent the stroke that left Paul Garner confined to a wheelchair.

He was sent home on successive days by doctors in August 2011 despite showing clear symptoms of the illness, including raised blood pressure, drooling and weakness in his left arm.

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust has now admitted liability in the case and has agreed to pay compensation. But what price can you put on a life so badly damaged.

This was not some rare or unusual malady, some never-before-seen combination of symptoms likely to baffle medical science. Mr Garner was clearly in the early stages of having a stroke, and prompt medical help would have made the difference between a full recovery and permanent disability.

When a report on this case is finally produced, no doubt the authorities will again promise us that 'lessons have been learned'. But continual repetition has made these bland assurances seem increasingly meaningless.

Perhaps we need to see more individuals named and punished for their failures. It may seem harsh, but too many people are paying too heavy a price for those unlearned lessons.

However, considering that multi-agency resolutions are considered a way of achieving best results, this report shows how this approach can be disastrous.

No-one goes out to do a bad job, but we know there are people that don't care whether they do a bad job – the general public will know that also.

They, like us, will know people with this attitude.

Unfortunately if you are a police officer, doctor, fireman, social worker or the like, doing a bad job, whether you set out to do it or just don't care, can lead to someone losing their life.

That is what happened in Georgia's case.

This report shows that if organisations tolerate the employment of such people there is a chance a group of them will come together, which culminates in chaos, incompetence, complacency and a 'don't care attitude'.

Those circumstances increase the probability that tragedies like this one will happen.

We do not thank any of the authorities included in this report for trying to make improvements as they shouldn't be necessary, but we do acknowledge that they realise this shouldn't happen again.

This is about professional standards and common sense of individuals. In 2008 all the tools to deal with Reynolds were available – the law was there, sanctions and punishment was there, rehabilitation was there, and most importantly there were actions that could have been taken to protect the public.

To put it mildly, in our opinion, incompetence, stupidity and acceptance of extremely low standards prevailed and, with the knowledge that Reynolds was dangerous, a murderer in the making was allowed to walk free to prey on any female.

Today we discover the findings of two reports. Both inquiries tell how Reynolds was given the freedom to kill, despite warnings about his behaviour.

What the public need to know is that Georgia was just one young female on a long list of potential victims Reynolds had planned to murder.

To the public we say this: Take note and take interest in this report.

It is not only about how Georgia came to be murdered by evil – it is about how easily any mother and father could be sat here today talking about how Reynolds was aided in his perverted lust to kill their daughter.