Detectives should have made efforts to arrest a robbery suspect before he shot dead a sub-postmaster's son during an armed raid, the police watchdog has said.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said an investigation found that West Mercia Police was made aware of DNA evidence against Anselm Ribera five months before he killed Craig Hodson-Walker.
The IPCC managed the inquiry conducted by the professional standards department of West Mercia Police, which established that Ribera had already been linked to three previous raids when he killed Mr Hodson-Walker in Fairfield, Worcestershire, in January 2009.
Ribera, of Druids Heath, Birmingham, and two other men were each ordered to serve at least 34 years in jail after being found guilty of murder last year.
The investigation overseen by the IPCC found that during the early stages of the murder inquiry, 34-year-old Ribera was suggested as one of the offenders at Fairfield.
Commenting on the findings, IPCC Commissioner Len Jackson said mistakes made by individuals had undoubtedly been compounded by organisational weaknesses.
