Inquest told teen in Crawley stabbing was known to pose risk

A 14-year-old girl who stabbed a care worker and musician to death was known to pose a high risk of serious harm, a coroner has heard.

Nimroy Hendricks, 24, died from a single stab wound to the chest after being attacked near Crawley station in West Sussex in October 2020.

The teenager – referred to throughout proceeding as Child A – moved to West Sussex with her mother from the Midlands in April 2020.

Her West Sussex Youth Justice Service officer, Rachel Cleaves, assigned due to the teenager’s previous convictions for violence, told the coroner she was “very aware Child A and her mother had arrived in West Sussex apparently quite randomly” and that they had no connections.

She said: “I was particularly worried about the circumstances in which she’d ended up in West Sussex.”

Ms Cleaves was concerned that the girl was in unsuitable accommodation and attempts were made to “build up a network” around her.

She also said the girl was vulnerable to criminal exploitation.

At one stage she received a “frantic” phone call from Child A’s mother asking for her daughter to be taken into care and put in a secure setting, the inquest heard.

Her mother said she had been violent towards her, punching her head and shutting her arm in a fire escape door. She later said Child A had hit her with a Hoover pole and sent threats via text to stab her mother.

After Child A suffered an assault near their home, mother and daughter were moved into emergency accommodation.

Asked if this was any better, Ms Cleaves replied: “No, it was just a series of temporary hotels.”

Coroner Penelope Schofield asked: “When you look back at the events and you heard Child A had fatally injured Nim, do you think there’s anything more the Youth Justice Service could have done to prevent that?”, to which Ms Cleaves replied: “No”.

Asked about when Mr Hendricks was stabbed, she said: “At that time I had no idea she access to a weapon.”

Child A had a social worker, Youth justice worker, psychologist and police neighbourhood police officer allocated to her the inquest has heard.

The inquest continues.