Nickell's partner considers civil case after Met Police's 'catalogue of errors'

Scotland Yard detectives who left psychopath Robert Napper free to kill Rachel Nickell could face private legal action by her former partner following the publication of a report which criticised errors made by the police in the case.

André Hanscombe is considering whether to bring a civil case against senior Metropolitan Police investigators identified as making a "catalogue of bad decisions and errors", his solicitor said yesterday.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said officers missed a series of opportunities to arrest Napper, leaving him free to murder Miss Nickell, Samantha Bisset and her daughter Jazmine and attack an unknown number of women.

A telephone call from his mother telling them Napper had raped a woman was ignored by police – he was ruled out for being "too tall" – and he was not chased up when he failed to have his DNA taken or attend a police station, the IPCC said.

Napper was convicted in 1995 of the 1993 killings of the Bissets in south London. Two years ago, he admitted killing Miss Nickell on Wimbledon Common in 1992 on the grounds of diminished responsibility.