THE family of a hairdresser murdered by her abusive ex-partner have urged anyone affected by domestic violence to seek help.

Katrina O’Hara, 44, was murdered by Stuart Thomas at her hair salon in East Street, Blandford on January 7 2016.

An inquest into her death will finally begin today, more than four years after she was killed. The hearing, at Bournemouth town hall, is expected to take some weeks.

Police had been in contact with Ms O’Hara and Thomas on a number of occasions before she was murdered, including in December 2015 when Thomas reportedly threatened to kill both himself and Ms O’Hara. He was arrested, interviewed and released on bail.

Ms O’Hara was in further contact with police reporting potential breaches of bail conditions on January 1 and 4 2016. Her phone had been taken by officers as part of their investigation after the December incident.

Thomas denied murder, but was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 26 years in August 2016.

The inquest will examine whether Ms O’Hara’s right to life was breached under Article 2 of European Convention of Human Rights. Coroner Brendan Allen will hear from a number of witnesses including Ms O’Hara’s daughter Morgan, 20, and police officers who had been in contact with Ms O’Hara.

In a statement issued via their legal representatives, Hudgell Solicitors, the family said: “It’s been four long years since our mum was so cruelly and violently taken from us. The fact that our mum’s death could have been prevented only makes our grief even harder to bear.

“The inquest process is going to be another painful but necessary step to ensure that the full circumstances of our mum’s death, including the role of the police, are examined independently by a jury. It won’t give us our mum back, but it may give us some closure.

“As we have said previously, our mum’s case is not unique and our only hope is that her death will serve as a wake-up call to the government and police forces across the country to not brush domestic violence issues under the carpet.

"As a family we would like to urge anyone going through domestic abuse to speak out and seek help.”