A coroner has passed comment on the killing of Una Crown, 86, describing initial handling of the murder by Cambridgeshire police as 'unfortunate'.

Eastern Daily Press: Una Crown Inquest, Huntingdon. Picture: Steve Williams.Una Crown Inquest, Huntingdon. Picture: Steve Williams. (Image: Archant)

William Morris also told the inquest into Mrs Crown's murder that he felt police 'too readily dismissed' foul play or circumstances.

His comments came at the end of an inquest in which he ruled that the Wisbech widow had been unlawfully killed.

Mrs Crown had been stabbed and her body set alight at her Magazine Lane bungalow home but it was two days before a murder hunt was launched. Her throat had been slit but this was not initially spotted by police.

The first police on the scene of the murder thought that Mrs Crown may have died by a tea towel catching fire on an old cooker which made her panic and caused a heart attack, today's inquest heard.

Eastern Daily Press: Una Crown Inquest, Huntingdon. Picture: Steve Williams.Una Crown Inquest, Huntingdon. Picture: Steve Williams. (Image: Archant)

One officer at the scene who picked up a key washed it under a tap as police failed to treat the bungalow as a crime scene.

But it wasn't only the police who overlooked the possibility of it being a murder – fire chiefs and paramedics also failed to spot the signs, the inquest was told.

Two police officers who failed to spot that Mrs Crown had been murdered were guilty of 'flawed decision making', a report said last month.

The report by the professional standards department of Cambridgeshire police said the actions of both officers had 'breached the standards of professional behaviour'.

Eastern Daily Press: Una Crown Inquest, Huntingdon. Picture: Steve Williams.Una Crown Inquest, Huntingdon. Picture: Steve Williams. (Image: Archant)

Mrs Crown, 86, was found dead at her Magazine Lane home on January 13, 2013 but the officers attending the scene failed to immediately spot she had been repeatedly stabbed.

When news of Mrs Crown's death was initially made public police ruled it was not suspicious, two days later they admitted she had been brutally murdered in her bungalow sometime between 5pm on Saturday January 12 2013 and Sunday morning when her body was discovered by a relative.

A post mortem showed she was stabbed multiple times in the neck and chest before her attacker set fire to her body as it lay in the entrance hall of the bungalow in a bid to destroy any evidence.

A reconstruction of the case was broadcast as part of the BBC's Crimewatch programme in April 2013, which lead to a number of 'interesting calls' but despite this the killer remains at large.

No one has yet been arrested for the murder but a review conducted by police has concluded both officers should have sought further guidance.

An internal review was carried out by Supt Mark Hodgson, head of the professional standards department. Two complaints were made to the force's 'watchdog' department and an internal investigation was launched.

Supt Hodgson said both officers 'greatly regret' the distress caused to the widow's family by the failure to spot the murder early on.

'They should have erred on the side of caution and either declared the death suspicious or sought further guidance,' he concluded.

Among recommendations from the inquiry was for officers to be given further training to prevent any reoccurrence. Supt Hodgson apologised for the 'flawed decision making' of the officers involved in the murder inquiry.

Last summer a fresh team of detectives from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit re-launched the investigation in the hope it would lead to a breakthrough in the case.