Angela Best died after being attacked by Theodore Johnson at his Tufnell Park flat in 2016

AN inquest into the death of a woman who was strangled by a man who had already killed two of his former partners ended yesterday (Thursday) with a coroner’s criticism of the Ministry of Justice.

Angela Best, 51, died after being attacked by Theodore Johnson at his flat in Dartmouth Park Hill, Tufnell Park, in 2016.

He had been released from prison under the Mental Health Act in 1997 under the conditions that he was high risk if he entered a new relationship and was ordered to disclose information of this kind to the authorities.

But Johnson repeatedly denied he was in a relationship and said he had no desire to enter one, even though he was with Ms Best.

Coroner Mary Hassell said in her summary at St Pancras Coroner’s Court: “The reason that this man’s relationship with Angela Best was not protected by the authorities was because they were almost entirely reliant on his self-disclosure of such a relationship.

Theodore Johnson

“If the supervising team had known about the relationship, this would have been reported to the Ministry of Justice, [and] this man’s behaviour would have been explored in a different way. Several organisations would have been involved in trying to keep her safe.”

Johnson pushed his former wife Yvonne Johnson off a balcony in 1981 and was later jailed for manslaughter. He had claimed he was “provoked”. He killed his girlfriend Yvonne Bennett in 1993 by strangling her with a dressing gown belt. At the Old Bailey, he was given a hospital order with restrictions, after the prosecution accepted he had a personality disorder and was suffering depression.

Ms Best was unaware of Johnson’s past until she discovered a letter hidden in a drawer at his home.

Ms Hassell added: “To unearth the facts of a relationship requires investigation. It seems to me that it all boils down to that.

“I am going to make the ‘prevention of future deaths’ report to the Ministry of Justice about that simple fact. The crucial piece of knowledge was not known by anybody.”

Johnson, 67, is now serving a life sentence for murder with a minimum of 30 years.