A HEARTBROKEN family have blasted cops for "incompetence" after their mum was found dead at a sex offender's home.
Police discovered Kelly Faiers at Richard Scatchard's Minehead property in Somerset on October 15, 2023.
Chilling footage showed the moment Kelly, 61, left a pub with the convicted criminal just hours before her death.
Now, her grief-stricken family claim Avon and Somerset Police a made big mistake when failing to question Scatchard, who was previously jailed for drugging and sexually assaulting women, after finding Kelly at his home.
Officers returned the next day, but the 70-year-old had disappeared and has now been on the run for three months.
Kelly’s family, including Jazz’s sisters Tania and Laurie, and brother Mike, say they “feel angry and let down” Scatchard was allowed to disappear.
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A murder enquiry into Kelly's death has been launched and a £10,000 reward has been issued to find Scatchard - who described as a "danger to the public, especially women".
Kelly’s daughter, factory worker Jazz Faiers, 27, told the BBC: “It’s just incompetence by the police.
“We’re the subject of additional trauma and have no closure.
“This could have been prevented.
“They should have questioned him given his past crimes.
“We didn’t know his history and neither did my mum.
“We only found out after when we googled him”
Jazz also slammed the force for not referring themselves to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) until after the family made a complaint.
She added: “They should have referred themselves straightaway.”
Avon and Somerset finally did refer themselves for independent scrutiny on the day of Kelly’s funeral, on January 4.
Jazz told The Sun: “The police think he may have killed himself but there is no evidence to suggest that.
“I think he’s still alive and being harboured. I don’t think he’s bothered about going back to prison.”
Tania Jackson, another of Kelly's daughter's, 40, said: “As a family we feel as though our mother’s murder investigation has gone under the radar as far as the police are concerned.
“Only now are we seeing them step up their investigation.
“As a family we vowed not to say anything until after our mother’s funeral.
“It’s difficult knowing our mother’s killer is still out there without having to keep pushing the police for more action on our case.”
A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police said: "Kelly's death continues to be treated as a murder inquiry at this time.
"Family liaison officers are in regular contact with her family to keep them updated and to provide support.
"We have made a number of public appeals and a Crimestoppers reward remains live for information that could lead to his arrest."
Following Kelly's family's claims, they told The Sun Online: "We continue to conduct searches to find Richard Scatchard, who is wanted on a prison recall and who we wish to speak to in connection with the death of Kelly Faiers in Minehead in October.
"We have made a number of public appeals and a Crimestoppers reward remains live for information that could lead to his arrest. We urge anyone with information about his whereabouts to contact us.
"As previously stated, Scatchard is considered a risk to the public, specifically women he forms relationships with. He is a regular user of dating apps and has previously been convicted of sexual offences in which he administered drugs to his victims to enable his crimes.
"We have received a large number of reported sightings of Scatchard since he was last seen on the morning of Monday 16 October. These have been reviewed, but none have been confirmed as the 70-year-old.
"The National Crime Agency has been supporting our efforts to locate Scatchard by providing specialist advice to help us develop our continuing search plans in a bid to find him.
"Kelly's death continues to be treated as a murder inquiry at this time. Family liaison officers are in regular contact with her family to keep them updated and to provide support.
"We can confirm we have recently received a complaint from Kelly's family in respect to the police response. The complaint has been voluntarily referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) on Thursday 4 January.
"Our Professional Standards Department was made aware of the incident and our response at an early stage and we will assist the IOPC in any way we can in relation to the complaint received."
A post-mortem examination carried out shortly after Kelly’s death proved inconclusive, cops confirmed in November last year.
Kelly had met the fugitive, who was using the surname Dunlop, a year earlier on a dating website.
The pair had been close, with Kelly travelling from her home in Weston-super-Mare, to Minehead to stay with him.
However, Kelly's daughter Jazz revealed her mum had been having doubts about the relationship shortly before her death.
She said: “He had a very controlling nature. He was obnoxious and controlling.
"I’ve seen messages he sent to her and he would call her ‘fat’, or he didn’t like the way she dressed so would make her change, or didn’t like her hair, so she was forced to dye her hair.
“He didn’t like the lights in her display case at home so ripped them out.
“She always said from the beginning he was not my type. She referred to him as a friend.
“Towards the end it became a chore for her to see him but he was persistent.”
Describing her mum, Jazz said she was "very loving, trusting, happy... and always smiling".
Mike said: "We've had the funeral now, but you go from the funeral back to searching his name. It's hitting as much as it did from the get go."
Since the discovery of Kelly's body there has only been one confirmed sighting of Scatchard on the day after her death.
There have been 90 possible sightings but police have been unable to find him.
Avon and Somerset Police initially put out a missing appeal, with concerns for Scatchard's welfare and did not tell the public that he was a convicted sex offender.
A few days later this was changed to a wanted appeal and he was declared a danger to women.
Kelly's children said they were told he had a criminal background, but were not given the details by the police.
Jazz said: “When they released his surname I was at work. I saw it on Facebook and started googling his name.
"That's how we found out about Richard Scatchard's convictions as a sex offender.”
Son Mike Faiers, 25, added it was "shocking and upsetting" to find out this way, and that neither they nor their mum had any idea of his past.
In 2000, Scatchard was convicted of drugging women and sexually assaulting them.
He was put behind bars and released in 2013, initially into the Cheshire area, and he then moved to Minehead in September 2020.
It is understood he is also wanted for recall to prison for a licence breach for failing to inform authorities of his relationship with women.
The police said he is a regular user of dating apps, which is how he met Kelly in 2022.
Police are urging anyone who sees Scatchard not approach him and to instead dial 999.
In an update today, Superintendent Lisa Simpson said: “It has been three months since we last had a confirmed sighting of Richard Scatchard.
“Our priority remains to find Scatchard alive and arrest him and any public information to help us achieve that aim will be gladly received. We wish to question Scatchard about what happened to Kelly in the hours leading up to her death, information we desperately want to be able to give her family.
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“We have spoken with both Kelly’s family and Scatchard’s and been honest with them that there have been three months without proof of him being alive and that is an extremely long time.
“While these searches are partly being carried out with that in mind, we remain open minded that Scatchard may well still be alive and do not give up hope someone can provide crucial information that leads to his arrest.”
