Peter Merritt gets payout over wife Sarah's murder from her employers Carewatch

Peter Merritt says he has endured an eight year battle for justice for his wife Sarah, claiming the company she worked for had failed in its duty to protect its staff.

Today in an exclusive interview with the Daily Echo, 50-year-old Peter revealed how he had been prepared to risk everything – even the roof over his head – to ensure that the firm was brought to account.

He launched a legal case against the firm, claiming that had her bosses had better procedures in place, she would still be alive today.

All of the claims have been denied by lawyers representing the company Carewatch, which has since been sold as a franchise, and its then boss Martin Price.

They settled out of court with Peter on the eve of the case being heard.

The murder scene in Meggeson Avenue.

As previously reported, Sarah Merritt was tied up, raped and stabbed and then left to die on the floor of a Southampton flat on March 15, 2007 while on a scheduled visit at the home of her disabled client Susan Hale.

It was the first time in almost three weeks that any carer had managed to gain access to her home, having reported a catalogue of “non entries” to bosses when they couldn’t get an answer at her door.

But unbeknown to Sarah until she entered the property in Meggeson Avenue, Ms Hale was dead in her bedroom having been bludgeoned to death by her fiancée David Tiley a week earlier.

The 47-year-old, only recently released from prison, then turned on her, tying her up and raping her before stabbing her twice in the neck.

The bodies of Sarah and Ms Hale were discovered by police on the afternoon of March 15, when officers forced their way into the flat.

Ever since the murder of his 39-year-old wife, Peter Merritt says he has been determined to take her employers Carewatch to court, alleging that their “negligence” and “breach of statutory duty” had led to Sarah’s death.

Now, on the eve of the case being heard in London’s Royal Courts of Justice, he has settled out of court with those acting on behalf of the company and its former boss Martin Price.

Among a list of claims, Peter alleged the company failed to act and raise the alarm despite carers repeatedly not being able to gain entry to Ms Hale’s home.

He also alleged that when social services called Carewatch, concerned they could not locate their client, bosses failed to disclose the problems they were having in reaching Ms Hale which could have triggered a different chain of events.

If that had happened, he said, then Sarah would still be alive today.

A lengthy legal document produced in court listed a catalogue of other allegations relating to Carewatch failing its staff.

They included claims of inadequate risk assessments and a lack of procedure when ex convict Tiley moved in to Ms Hale’s home.

Speaking to the Daily Echo Peter said: “This was never about money to me. I have carried this torch for eight years because Sarah is not here to do it for herself.

“For eight years it has been constantly in my life.

“I believe Carewatch failed in their duty massively and I believe that Sarah would still be alive if they had acted right and done their job.

“I cannot put into words how angry I am that the mother of my children, my wife, the person I was set to spend the rest of my life with, was needlessly killed because people sat in an office and didn’t do their jobs properly.

“I risked everything I had - I stood to lose everything and be left penniless - but I had to do this for her.”

The case was settled after more than six hours of mediation between Peter and his lawyers and those representing Carewatch Southampton as it was known at the time.

Under the settlement, Peter was awarded what has been described as a “significant sum” by his lawyers. Full costs, estimated to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds, have also been claimed against Carewatch.

LAWYERS representing Carewatch, the company who Sarah Merritt worked for, had denied claims that it was liable in any way.

A defence statement served to the court on behalf of Carewatch director Martin Price, said the company rejected a number of allegations that would warrant any compensation payment being made to her family.

It said:

• It was not necessary to raise the alarm with Southampton City Council or police as and when a client/service user could not be reached at their home.
• Not being able to reach Susan Hale at her Meggeson Avenue home was not unusual – she often went away without notifying anyone – and it didn’t require a different response.
• Carewatch admitted that the last time a care worker recorded seeing Ms Hale was almost three weeks before she was found dead – even though she was due to be visited four times a week.
• The company was never aware of David Tiley’s criminal record and although they knew he was living with one of their clients, there was no cause for concern.
• No care workers had ever expressed concern about him.
• The company’s care plan and needs assessment were sufficient and there was no need to modify it after Tiley arrived on the scene.

Carewatch denied it was “negligent and/or in breach of statutory duty” or that “the alleged murder, pain, injury, loss and damage were caused or contributed to by the matters alleged at all.”

The firm, which is now under new management and called Carewatch Care Services Ltd following the sale of the franchise in 2013, remains employed by Southampton City Council to provide care to hundreds of people across the city.

Following the settlement, a spokesman for Carewatch told the Daily Echo: “This was a senseless and devastating tragedy.

"Our thoughts remain with the family now that an agreement has now been reached between them and the company that owned and operated the Carewatch Southampton franchise back in March 2007.

“Carewatch Southampton has been under the new management of Carewatch Care Services Ltd since 2013.”

David Tiley

HE is the evil monster who a judge said should never be released.

Serial rapist and double murderer David Tiley was jailed for life for killing his fiancee Susan Hale and her care worker Sarah Merritt – with a recommendation that life really should mean life.

The convicted sex offender came under the watch of Hampshire police in the early part of 2007 upon his release from prison.

He struck up a relationship with Susan Hale the year before and arrived in January to move in with her.

Described as a person of “medium risk” Tiley, who had a personality disorder, was being monitored by the force under Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements.

At an inquest into the deaths of both women, coroner Keith Wiseman criticised all agencies for a lack of sharing of information about him and ordered that lessons must be learned as a result.

Jailing him at Winchester Crown Court Mr Justice Irwin told 47-year-old Tiley he “was quite unsure” if he would “ever grasp the real enormity” of his acts, adding: “The brutality and evil defies adequate description.

"The pain and grief of the victims’ families left in the wake of their deaths is profound.”

Tree planted in memory of Sarah Merritt at a newly built block of flats on the site in Meggeson Avenue, Townhill, where she lost her life

SOUTHAMPTON City Council was among the organisations criticised for failing to provide vital information about David Tiley.

Nobody, including police, had told Carewatch of his background and the risk he posed to others, a court heard.

Following the murders in March 2007 council chiefs told the Daily Echo how they commissioned an independent review of “certain matters” with Carewatch.

A spokesman would not shed further light on the matter but said last night: “The outcomes, whilst confidential, were satisfactory to the council.”

Carewatch, now under new management after it was sold on by former boss Martin Price, remains the care provider to vulnerable people in the city and has 250 residents on its books.

Earlier this year the company won a new four-year contract, which came into force in April.

A spokesman said: “Earlier this year, Southampton City Council’s Integrated Commissioning Unit (ICU) tendered for domiciliary care providers to join a new, four-year framework agreement for care and support at home, and this started in April 2015.

"Carewatch, whose management has changed since the incident in 2007, was chosen to join the framework following a robust selection process, including a review of organisational systems and quality standards.”

Speaking after the out of court settlement, Paul Juan, interim service manager, Southampton City Council, said: “The council’s thoughts remain with Sarah Merritt’s family and friends and it wishes to offer its deepest sympathy to all those affected by this tragic incident.

“Although it was not the subject of any allegations relating to this incident, the council has cooperated fully with the court process as far as it was asked to.

“All care providers are regulated by the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and social care in England, and are monitored locally by the Integrated Commissioning Unit’s Quality and Safeguarding Team.”