RAF hero, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was beaten to death by thug who had broken into his flat after bungling cops left them alone together
Officers failed to check the ID or background of vicious murderer Joe Hasledine, 24, when they visited home of Christopher Fields, 37, after reports of violent burglary
AN RAF war hero - attacked in his home by an intruder - was murdered by the same man just hours later after blundering cops left them alone together.
Officers had found Christopher Fields, 37, with blood on his face when they were called to reports of a violent burglary at his home.
Decorated veteran Christopher Fields was beaten to death in his own home in a savage attack by Joe Hasledine after cops left the pair alone together
And while two constables quizzed him about the break-in that left the frame of his lounge window broken, culprit Joe Hasledine, 24, returned to the scene, entering the flat through the gaping hole he had previously made.
Mistakenly believing the pair were friends the officers then departed.
But shortly afterwards the same officers were sent back to the flat in Edgeley, Gtr Manchester, where they found Christopher dying following a savage second attack by Hasledine.
Evil Hasledine held a can of beer in one hand while kicking and stamping on the former serviceman's head as he cowered on his sofa.
Christopher, who won two medals following service in Iraq and Afghanistan, was taken to hospital in a coma. He never regained consciousness and passed away nine days later.
A subsequent probe showed the WPC and PC failed to carry out any background checks on Hasledine or check his ID – believing he did not legally have to give them his name. They also failed to investigate how the window became damaged.
At an inquest at Stockport Coroner's court Coroner John Pollard blasted the constables as he recorded a verdict of unlawful killing and said: ''There were inquiries the officers could have made that would have protected Mr Fields and they were not done.
The hearing was told Hasledine had harboured a grudge against Christopher over the destruction of his Staffordshire Bull Terrier dog Bruno after it mauled a chihuahua to death in the foyer of the victim's block of flats.
On the day of the killing on December 12 2014, Haseldine went on a cocaine-fuelled bender during which he downed beer and Sambuca shots then broke into Mr Fields's flat through a window as the victim was entertaining friends.
Eye witness Terrie Ward told the hearing: ''A man came in and began kicking and punching Chris and saying 'do you f****** remember the dog'.
"It was chaos.
“Chris was still on the chair and he was trying to get up. Then he fell on to the floor and curled up into the foetal position and then assault continued for five or six minutes.
“Then Hasledine came back in telling the officers he was called Owen. He was acting the nice guy, I should have told the officers what I had seen but was frightened and thought that if I said anything he would assault me."
"A carpenter came and while he went to his van Hasledine assaulted Chris again. This was more vicious than the first one. Blood was all over Chris' face.''
WPC Emma Galbraith said she had been called to the flat at 5.20pm. She said: ''Christopher agreed he had been injured but said he had no idea how that could have happened. He said he didn't want to take the matter any further.
"It was a very difficult situation, we were witnessing very strange behaviour but Christopher didn't appear uneasy.
“We left because we didn't feel there was a risk to Chris. He told us it was fine, he said they were not involved and said they could stay.”
PC Poole tried to explain why Hasledine didn't raise any suspicions. He told the inquest: "I didn't consider it necessary to caution him [Hasledine]. I didn't want to question him at the scene. The fact he would not give me his full name did give me some doubt but they were very comfortable in each other's company."
Hasledine admitted murder at Manchester Crown Court in June 2015. He was jailed for life with a minimum recommendation he serve 16 and a half years.