WA Police Commissioner Colonel Blanch has ordered a review of the police’s handling of the Virginia Giuffre case.
The revelation came during a parliamentary estimates hearing on Tuesday, when Liberal MP Steven Martin asked Blanch whether the police had properly responded to Giuffre’s pleas for help in the months before he died by suicide, in April 2025.
In May, this headline revealed that the family of a child sex trafficking victim had wanted them both public inquiry and internal police reviewarguing a 41-year-old man repeatedly sought help with domestic violence.
The family also raised concerns that he may have been misdiagnosed as a perpetrator, rather than a victim, of family violence.
Blanch told the hearing that she could not guarantee that the police had responded to Giuffre’s pleas for help.
“I have called an audit to answer the question you asked,” Blanch told the hearing.
“We respond to over 100,000 incidents of family violence every year, so I would love to give assurances on each one, but I can’t, but that will be reviewed.”
Blanch said she asked for the inside inspection in May, shortly after Giuffre’s brothers, Sky Roberts and Danny Wilson, wrote to the commissioner asking for a formal review of police decisions, including family violence risk assessments and the handling of domestic violence complaints made by their sister.
Blanch noted that the matter was also before the Coroner’s Court and could be investigated by the Ombudsman.
“The coroner can also choose to conduct an investigation, as can the Ombudsman, which I believe has also been written,” he said.
The family’s calls for an investigation were supported by 16 leading domestic violence researchers and activists from across Australia, who urged state coroner Ros Fogliani to hold a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding her death.
The Coroner’s Court of Western Australia told this newspaper that no decision had been made on whether the matter would proceed to a public inquest.
Carla Hildebrandt is a reporter for WAtoday. He previously worked on ABC’s Four Corners and as a court reporter at The Daily Telegraph in Sydney. For secure communications: carlahildebrandt@proton.me.Connect through email address.
