Drug rape killer Richard Scatchard should never have been freed, says victim

A survivor of serial predator Richard Scatchard has said the 2023 murder of Kelly Faiers was entirely preventable — and that authorities failed to act on clear warning signs that he would kill again.

A victim speaks out

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she was drugged and raped by Scatchard years before he murdered 47-year-old Kelly Faiers at her home in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. She told reporters this week that she reported the attack to police at the time but felt she wasn’t taken seriously. “He was dangerous. Everyone around him knew it,” she said. “Kelly didn’t have to die.”

Scatchard, now 52, was convicted of Faiers’ murder in March 2024. Prosecutors established that he had drugged her drink before attacking and killing her. He had previously served time in prison for sexual offences but was released and, critics say, left largely unsupervised in the community.

A pattern that was ignored

The victim says there were at least three women who had raised concerns about Scatchard’s behaviour before Faiers was killed. She herself had provided a detailed account of what he did to her, including the specific method he used to drug her — a detail, she says, that matches exactly how he later killed Kelly Faiers.

That’s the part she can’t let go of. The method was the same. The warnings were there. And still he was free.

She is now calling for a full independent review of how Scatchard was managed after his release, including his supervision conditions, any risk assessments carried out, and whether victims who came forward were adequately heard. She wants answers — not just for herself, but for Faiers’ family.

Questions over supervision and risk

Under standard probation guidelines, high-risk sex offenders are subject to Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements, known as MAPPA. These are designed to coordinate oversight between police, probation, and other services. But critics have long argued that under-resourced probation teams cannot adequately monitor every case flagged as high risk.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said: “We take the management of offenders in the community extremely seriously and any concerns raised about how a case was handled will be looked at carefully.” They declined to comment further on the specifics of Scatchard’s supervision.

Faiers’ family released a brief statement saying they supported the call for an independent review and wanted “the truth” about what happened.

What comes next

The victim says she won’t stop pushing for accountability. She’s been in contact with her MP and is seeking legal advice about whether a formal complaint can compel a statutory review of Scatchard’s case file.

Parliament is currently debating reforms to MAPPA and probation oversight following a string of high-profile failures. Whether Kelly Faiers’ death becomes part of that conversation — and drives real change — remains to be seen.

For now, one woman is determined to make sure it does.