Police aiming to right the wrongs one year after Wisbech murder verdict
The force hopes it can continue to learn from its mistakes
Last updated 13th Feb 2026
One year on since Una Crown's killer was convicted, Cambridgeshire Police are trying to learn from their mistakes.
"There's no doubt the case damaged the reputation of the Constabulary and still continues to do that," Detective Superintendent Iain Moor from the force, said.
After a trial at Cambridge Crown Court, David Newton was found guilty of murdering Mrs Crown at her home in Magazine Lane in January 2013.
Newton had denied the charge but was convicted by a majority of 10 to two.
Before that point, the trial heard how errors were made in how police handled the murder scene at the time, initially treating the case as non-suspicious.
'Mistakes were hard to get past'
At the time of Newton's conviction, Mr Moor said the force apologised to Mrs Crown's family for how the initial investigation into her death was treated.
Mr Moor has told us what lessons are being learned by officers.
"The importance of assessing a crime scene carefully, having a look at what the scene is telling you, the importance of checking the body physically to make sure there aren't any wounds or injuries," he said.
"There were mistakes made early on (in the investigation) and those mistakes were hard to get past.
"Sometimes when officers attend scenes, something just doesn't quite feel right on the day, so it's difficult to say why the decision was made that it was non-suspicious, but that did have an impact on how the investigation was handled initially."
Mrs Crown - a retired postmistress - was found with stab wounds to her chest, her throat cut and her clothing set on fire.
The trial has heard how DNA samples were taken from Mrs Crown's nail clippings in 2013.
But after they were re-examined 10 years later, male DNA was found which prosecutors say likely came from Newton as no male relatives lived nearby.
Mr Moor previously said more than 10,000 items of material were sorted through as part of the investigation, the largest amount of disclosure items the force has seen.
"There was also a lot of witness evidence and disclosure to look through from the original case papers, so it was a really challenging investigation," he said.
"Even right up to the court case, it was a very difficult trial to progress through."
Hope for no repeat of history
The day after he was found guilty, Newton was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years.
Mr Moor said the trial brought the force's mistakes "back into the public eye", and that regular training is being given to officers.
He's also been giving talks to other police forces across the country in how to deal with similar cases.
"We acknowledge as a constabulary the errors that were made in 2013, that's never been hidden," Mr Moor added.
"We've learnt from it and trained our officers differently as a result of that, so I would hope that set of circumstances wouldn't occur again."