Lynn Cannon’s siblings always believed their baby sister could have lived if only police had taken her case seriously.
On the final day of an inquest into her death, they said while procedures had improved after her death, attitudes hadn’t.
“Whilst reeling in shock of how she was killed, it became apparent Lynn had been failed in a monumental way,” her sister Jacqui Darley said.
They slammed a “victim blaming” mentality within the force.
“It’s very concerning that these attitudes are prevailing,” Darley said.
“We want these mistakes to be acknowledged so that changes can be made.”
The 51-year-old was stabbed to death by her jealous and abusive ex-husband after he lured her to his Landsdale home in 2022.
It took an hour for police to arrive after an urgent request for a welfare check.
The priority assigned to that job was downgraded despite officers knowing Paul Cannon had threatened his ex that morning with a knife.
Her family singled out a remark from one officer asking “would she have gone there if she knew she was in danger?”.
“It just shows a total ignorance to coercive control behaviour,” Darley said.
“She went there to keep the peace, to try and calm the situation.”
The WA Police Force said it made “significant changes in the wake of Lynn Cannon’s tragic death”.
“These changes were provided to the coroner for her consideration and detailed during the inquest,” it said.
“As a police force, we must always strive to be better.
“We will now await the coroner’s findings and recommendations, which we will carefully consider in due course.”
Coroner Sarah Linton today agreed there were several missed opportunities that could – not would – have changed the course of that night.
She’ll deliver her findings in the coming months.
“She was our baby sister and we loved her so much, we’ll carry this pain for the rest of our lives,” Darley said.
