A woman murdered by her abusive husband on Boxing Day reported him to police to try and escape him but cops failed to record it, leaving him free to stab her to death.
Angela Mittal suffered years of horrific abuse before being stabbed to death 59 times on Boxing Day in 2018.
The 41-year-old was brutally murdered at her home in the sleepy village of Shinfield in Wokingham, Berks, after spending Christmas Day with her family.
At the inquest last week, Reading Coroner’s Court heard the successful lifestyle coach made a harrowing phone call to Thames Valley Police about her concerns.
She had suffered a tirade of abuse in her relationship with Laurens Brand, with him hitting both her and their young son, leaving her afraid for her life, cut off from her family and punching her in his sleep.
Brand – who was 47 at the time – also brought an end to the career of his ‘smart and talented’ wife who had two masters degrees and dreamed of pursuing a job in psychology or criminology.
She had called the police multiple times, including just days before she was killed.
And at 5:30am on Boxing Day, officers discovered the mother-of-one’s body after Brand made a chilling 999 call to tell police he had murdered his wife.
He had stabbed her repeatedly in the chest and neck in such a savage attack that the knife broke in half – all while their young son slept upstairs.
Pictured in front of their new home in 2018 is Angela Mittal, 41, who was brutally murdered at her house by her husband, Laurens Brand (also pictured) as their son slept upstairs
Before her death, the successful lifestyle coach made a harrowing phone call to the police
Brand said he left the study where his wife had made him sleep, took a kitchen knife and went into the marital bedroom where he killed her while she lay in bed.
After showering, wiping up some of the blood, and putting his blood stained pyjamas into the washing machine, he called police and told them he had killed his wife.
When officers arrived, Brand said chillingly: ‘I’m sorry I did it, but she drove me crazy. I still love her.’
Speaking calmly to the 999 operator, he said: ‘Hello this is … Brand. Could [you] please send police, I killed my wife. My wife is driving me crazy for some time already…’
At his sentencing, the judge told him she struggled to defend herself and would have suffered ‘fear and pain’ during the vicious attack at their new Berkshire home.
Brand left the study where his wife had made him sleep, took a kitchen knife and went into the marital bedroom where he killed her while she lay in bed
Brand – a technical consultant for a Dutch company providing specialist IT services to international firms – married Angela in 2006.
He physically and emotionally abused his formerly bubbly and outgoing wife for years after they returned from Rotterdam in Holland where they had met and married.
He previously admitted the murder at Reading Crown Court and was jailed for a minimum of 16 years and eight months the following May.
But Angela’s family said they believe her race and gender negatively impacted how her pleas for help were treated by authorities.
At the inquest, Poonam Mittal told Coroner Heidi J Connor and the jury that Brand didn’t allow her to speak to her sister and she was ‘concerned very early on’.
While on holiday with her husband, Angela texted her sister pleading with her to take care of her son if anything happened to her.
Ms Mittal said she was ‘very scared’ for Angela and asked what had happened, but her sister ‘completely shut me down and asked me to delete the text’.
Later, Angela confided in her to admit Brand had hit both her and her child. When urged to report this to the police, she was ‘reluctant because she thought no one would believe her’.
Her sister said: ‘She told me that he was controlling everything that she was allowed to do, including what she bought, who she talked to, and who she was allowed to be,’ The Reading Chronicle reported.
Angela – a successful entrepreneur who worked as a life coach and fitness guru – was forced to leave her job and work from home instead.
Brand physically and emotionally abused his formerly bubbly and outgoing wife Angela for years after they returned from Rotterdam in Holland where they had met and married
She was ‘isolated from everyone which is what he wanted’ and felt like she was ‘inadequate, constantly trying to prove herself’.
Her sister told the inquest: ‘It got to the point where she couldn’t even buy a pint of milk without producing a receipt to prove what she bought.’
In November 2018, Angela worked up the courage to go to the police. At the inquest, her family heartbreakingly told of how they believed the police would help her.
She went to a police station to tell them she was really scared and that Brand was monitoring her calls and had told her not to speak to her family.
Brand himself called police the next day, telling them she drove him mad, and that ‘I can’t control myself anymore’
But Angela was told it was fine to go back to her home, despite speaking to both officers and social services about the abuse.
Failures by police included not recording the initial contact in November, not taking their initial assessment seriously, and not investigating crimes that were reported by Angela, the inquest found.
Just days before her death, she called police and instructed solicitors to begin divorce proceedings after he punched her during his sleep.
He justified that cowardly attack by saying she ‘drove him mad and pushed him to the limit’.
She then moved £35,000 from their joint account into her own, at which point he realised she was determined to end their troubled marriage.
Shortly after discovering the money transfer, he launched his attack.
But from the outside, the couple seemed to have the perfect life.
Before Angela’s tragic death, the pair had posed with their 21-month-old son as a ‘poster couple’ for their new home they bought the same year of the attack.
They said the newly-built property – with a cheerful bright red door – was ideal when they relocated from Rotterdam, as they did not want to spend time decorating.
In November 2018, Angela worked up the courage to go to the police. Her family heartbreakingly told of how they believed the police would help her
Angela, who used the surname Brand-Mittal in social media posts, regularly posted motivational videos of her solo workouts and group training with various groups online.
In June, she wrote: ‘Never feel bad about getting older. It is a privilege denied to many.
‘And I know I shouldn’t moan and count myself lucky.’
In a statement released through Thames Valley Police at the time of Angela’s death, her parents said their daughter can never be replaced.
‘Angela was a kind and generous person who truly lived life to the fullest through simple pleasures, chatting with friends and family and, most importantly, spending time and playing with her son,’ they said.
‘Angela had an uncanny ability to reach people in a deep and positive way. Angela lit up the room with a big smile on her face –always putting the needs of others before her.’
In a series of speeches crackling with emotion, Angela’s family told of their heartbreak as Brand was sentenced at Reading Crown Court in 2018.
Her older sister Parita Singla said: ‘I hope he is haunted by Angela, that he sees her face at every moment of his existence.’
Bharat Mittal, her father, said: ‘He committed an inhuman act of despicable cruelty upon our daughter. He violated our daughter’s body by brutally murdering her.
‘She was reduced from a happy, intelligent, capable woman to a woman concerned about doing whatever was necessary to save her marriage. She became convinced that she was inadequate, she was constantly trying to prove herself.
The scene outside their dream home after Brand called 999 and said he had killed Angela
‘She paid the ultimate price for finally speaking up. We know she was strong and would have found the strength to fight hard as long as she could, to the bitter end, before she was brutally murdered.’
Mr Mittal’s voice broke as delivered his speech, but he continued, saying: ‘The thought of the pain and suffering Angela experienced and felt in her dying moments makes us shiver. We are heart broken and feel like a piece of our heart has been lost.
‘She wanted to walk away peacefully, and how we just wish he could have done the same that morning and just let her go peacefully.’
The inquest jury ruled there were failings in how the police handled her case but it didn’t contribute to her death.
Despite this, Coroner Connor announced she would be putting forward recommendations to the National Police Chief Council in order to learn from failures.
Chief Superintendent Felicity Parker of Thames Valley Police told MailOnline: ‘First and foremost I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the family of Angela Mittal, who was brutally murdered in 2018.
‘It is clear in this case that there were missed opportunities, in that there should have been greater action over the coercive control elements of the case, additionally the assault on Ms Mittal should have been recorded as a crime.
‘However, it would be very difficult to say that even if the operational guidance and process at the time of the incident had been followed, or even if current processes had been followed, that the outcome of this tragic incident would have been different.
‘As a force, whenever an incident like this happens, we always look at where our organisation can improve and put steps in place to prevent deaths in the future. We have undertaken a vast number of changes in practice around domestic abuse and coercive control as well as engaging fully in a Domestic Homicide Review of this incident.
‘We have increased the provision for training for officers on domestic abuse and coercive control, both when they join the force but also by way of mandatory training for all frontline officers, which includes specialist training provided by the Safer Lives charity.
‘Bespoke and specialist training is also provided to our Contact Management staff around coercive control and domestic abuse. This is to assist our call handlers to enabling victims to tell us what has happened and drawing out detailed histories of what the victim may have been going through.
‘This allows officers to then attend incidents with a greater and more detailed picture of the circumstances behind the reported incident.
‘Further changes have also been implemented, around managing risk, with greater scrutiny of risk, and scrutiny of crime recording.
‘We also look on the inquest as an extremely important opportunity for further learning to be identified and we will carefully consider any recommendations made by His Majesty’s Coroner.
‘We remain absolutely committed to improving our response to domestic abuse and coercive control and will continue to train our officers and staff so that we can combat this extremely harmful crime.’
