Milton Keynes woman probably killed by sex offender, inquest told

A woman whose body was found three and half years after she went missing was likely to have been killed by a sex offender who took his own life soon after she disappeared, a police officer told an inquest.

Leah Croucher, 19, who had a black belt in martial arts, was last seen walking to work in February 2019, Milton Keynes coroner’s court was told on Wednesday. Her remains were discovered in the loft of a house in October 2022 in Furzton, Milton Keynes, after a tip-off from a maintenance worker.

The prime suspect in the killing was Neil Maxwell, a previously convicted sex offender, who killed himself while on the run from police in April 2019.

DS Kevin Brown, of Thames Valley police, told the inquest into Croucher’s death that she was probably unlawfully killed by Maxwell. Asked by the senior coroner, Tom Osborne, if on the balance of probabilities he would say Croucher was unlawfully killed by Maxwell, DS Brown replied: “Absolutely.”

The detective added: “In normal circumstances, had he been alive, we would have approached the Crown Prosecution Service for their advice around charging …

Leah would have died very close to the day she went missing, if not on it.”

Caroline Haughey KC, representing Croucher’s family, asked if he believed it was “likely to be an unwarranted sexual attack and in fact because of her martial arts ability, she reacted and subsequently died”.

DS Brown said: “I believe she would have defended herself … that may have escalated the situation.”

A murder investigation was launched in October 2022 after a maintenance worker who had been trying to eradicate a smell in a property discovered what he thought were remains and called the police, the inquest was told.

Croucher’s body was found in a house owned by people who lived abroad and used it as a holiday home and had not visited during the Covid pandemic, the inquest heard.

The inquest heard that a postmortem was inconclusive, due to decomposition, and that Croucher was identified by her dental records.

Maxwell was a handyman and the only person with keys to the property where Croucher’s body was found. He was wanted for a sex attack in Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes, in November 2018, and used false names to evade arrest, as well as stopping using his phone and car.

Officers believe he also lost weight and grew a beard to change his appearance.

The inquest heard Maxwell was assessed as medium risk after he was convicted of sexual assault in February 2018, but subsequently it was decided he should have been assessed as being high risk.

Maxwell had failed to attend a number of probation appointments in 2018 after his conviction, the inquest heard. An officer dealing with him raised concerns about Maxwell’s lack of communication in January 2019, Haughey told the inquest.

Geoff Davis, the head of operations for the south central probation service, said in 2018 that Maxwell was “good at disguising his compliance in terms of his reporting to us”. He added that Maxwell was reporting to probation as instructed and completed 200 hours of unpaid work.

In January 2023, Thames Valley police released a computer generated e-fit of Maxwell as detectives tried to confirm that he had killed Croucher.

The inquest continues.