Sussex Police has issued a public apology to the family of murder victim Shana Grice.

Sharon Grice criticised Sussex Police for not taking her 19-year-old daughter Shana seriously before she was killed by her jilted ex-boyfriend Michael Lane.

In a victim impact statement read in court following the conviction of Lane, Mrs Grice said: "We brought Shana up to respect authority and to always respect the law.

"We firmly believe her murder could have been prevented if her fears had been listened to and taken seriously by the police."

Mrs Grice said the family "instantly" knew Lane was responsible as he had been "harassing and stalking" her for the past year.

Officers received at least four complaints about mechanic Lane's behaviour towards Miss Grice in the months before he fatally slashed her throat.

Deputy Chief Constable Bernie O’Reilly, of Sussex Police, said in a statement: "I would like to extend my sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Shana Grice, who was murdered by Michael Lane.

"When we looked at the circumstances leading to Shana’s murder, we felt we may not have done the very best we could.

"Within days of her murder I personally visited Shana's family to apologise on behalf of Sussex Police and we made a referral to the IPCC.

"The referral was specifically in relation to how we dealt with incidents involving Shana leading up to her murder.

“Since then we have thoroughly reviewed all aspects of how we deal with cases of stalking and harassment and, working we partners, we have now taken on the learning and our approach is more robust.

"We are fully cooperating with the IPCC and until we receive their report we cannot comment further."