A ‘beautiful and caring’ university lecturer begged police to arrest her abusive ex-husband Paul Butler just hours before he murdered her, friends have revealed.
Claire Chick, 48, was stabbed to death in Plymouth on January 22 – prompting a nationwide manhunt for Butler, who fled the city and was found 20 miles away.
At court today, the 53-year-old pleaded guilty to her murder and another charge of possession of a bladed article.
Jo Taylor, a close friend, accused cops of ‘doing nothing’ and revealed Claire had regularly called for help after ‘evil’ Butler stalked and attacked her – including on the morning of January 22, the day of her murder.
She told MailOnline: ‘He hounded her, he climbed in her car when she was driving, he tried to break into her house so she had to get cameras fitted.
‘She reported everything to the police but they did nothing, they would ring him and speak to him but that was it.
‘The day he murdered her she had been called in to the police that morning and they just did nothing, they spoke to him and let him go.
‘Nobody would believe how bad it was, the police didn’t accept it wasn’t just another domestic, but he was evil.
Claire Chick begged police to arrest her abusive ex-husband hours before he murdered her
Paul Butler stabbed Claire to death in Plymouth in January, prompting a nationwide manhunt
Butler, 53, today pleaded guilty of Claire’s murder (Pictured: The couple together)
‘The police did not listen, she called them almost every week from when they separated in September telling them what he was doing.
‘Nobody protected Claire.’
Claire, a lecturer in adult nursing at Plymouth University, had been forced to move into an Airbnb flat in the city to get away from Butler.
Before that they had lived in separate houses on Stangray Avenue where they met after Claire moved into the house next door.
Ms Taylor – who had known Claire for 20 years having met while working as nurses at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester – said: ‘She moved to a secret address to get away from him and he found out where she was near where the new apartment was.
‘I have no idea how he found her but I think he had a tracker on her phone because she always kept the same number.
‘She would block him and he would get another phone every time.’
Devon and Cornwall Police referred the attack to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) because of ‘previous contact with the victim’.
A close friend told MailOnline Claire reported Butler to police to no avail (Pictured: Claire and Butler)
Elizabeth Cook’s sketch of Paul Butler (left) appearing at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court
A GoFundMe page set up to support Claire’s two daughters and five grandchildren has already raised more than £10,500.
In a statement following Claire’s death, the family also criticised authorities’ handling of her case, saying: ‘We are absolutely devastated and broken at the loss of our beautiful caring mother Claire Chick.
‘She was the most beautiful lively soul and was there for everyone.
‘Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for her when she needed security and begged for help to protect her she was failed by local authorities.
‘Our mum wrote and spoke out to say in the event of her death she wanted people to know she was let down and we will do whatever we can to make sure her legacy and her strong will gets seen from us, her two daughters.
‘Everyone that knew our mum had so much positive words to say about her. She was the life and soul of any place she was. She loved to dance and sing even though she was pretty bad at it she had no shame in doing it in front of any audience.
‘We will never get over this as a family she was our glue and our go to. We won’t ever get the justice our mum deserves for this because no amount of justice will bring her back.
‘We want to thank everyone for their kind words and we invite anyone who knew her to share their memories of her.
The day Butler murdered Claire, he had been called in to the police station and later released
Butler is pictured wearing a fancy dress lifeguard costume in a picture taken from social media
Claire had been forced to move into an Airbnb flat to get away from Butler (pictured)
‘She leaves behind four beautiful young grandchildren who all refer to her as ‘a favourite grandma’.
‘She maybe gone but her spirit will always remain alive. We love you mum and we promise to make you proud xx.’
Following Butler’s guilty plea today, Judge Robert Linford ordered pre-sentence reports and said the sentencing hearing would take place on 25 April.
He told Butler: ‘I am going to order that a psychiatric report is prepared upon you, which will assist the court in determining the minimum term that must be served by you before you are considered for parole.
‘You understand, I know, that the sentence for the offence of murder is fixed by law and on that date you will receive a sentence of life imprisonment, but the minimum term will be affected by submissions I hear from the prosecution barrister and your barrister, and that which is contained in the psychiatric report which I now order.’