The family of a woman who was raped and killed will receive a compensation payout after police admitted they could have done more to save her.

Rachel Nickell was stabbed to death on Wimbledon Common in July 1992; an act of horrific violence which her two-year-old son Alex witnessed.

Now, her former partner Andre Hanscombe, along with her son, will receive a formal apology and a possible six-figure compensation sum following the publication of a report from the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Serial murderer Robert Napper admitted to the Miss Nickell’s killing in December 2008 after traces of his DNA were found on her body.

There are suggestions that Mr Napper could have been locked up as early as 1989, the time where his mother rang police to inform them that he had admitted to raping a woman. However, no action was taken and he went on to rape and kill not only Miss Nickell, but another mother and her four-year old daughter.

It was later found that Mr Napper had committed as many as 106 sex offences over a five year period.

It’s believed that the compensation claim payout could reach as much as £320,000 – the figure that was received by the parents of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered following numerous police mistakes.