The brother of a woman who was murdered by her ex-partner has spoken about his determination to help other victims of domestic violence and make something “positive” come from his sister’s death.

Manuel Fernandez, 42, who lives in Totteridge, had his “world smashed to pieces” after his sister Maria Stubbings, 50, was strangled by her ex-partner Marc Chivers and hidden under coats in the downstairs toilet of her Chelmsford home in December 2008.

Chivers, who had received a life-sentence for murdering a girlfriend in Germany before he met Ms Stubbings, had been arrested for assaulting her in July that year.

Police watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission published a report on Tuesday criticising Essex police for failing to protect Ms Stubbings and her 15-year-old son when Chivers was released that autumn.

It found the force had taken away her panic alarm and not responded quickly enough when she reported Chivers hanging around her house in the days before her death.

Mr Fernandez and Ms Stubbings’ son Bengi and daughter Celia Peachey, who lives in Hampstead, are now calling for a full scale public enquiry into the response of the Government and police to domestic violence.

Mr Fernandez said: “This is a quest to find the truth. We are not looking to find someone to blame.

“If no one learns lessons from this, things can’t be done to prevent others from suffering from a fate like Maria’s. We don’t want sympathy, we want action so Maria’s case is not just swept under the carpet.”

Mr Fernandez, who was working in a high profile job in the City before his sister’s death, described how her death left him “smashed”, “heartbroken” and “wanting to be dead.”

He said: “It was the darkest time of my life. We had no idea.

“Chivers managed to befriend Maria’s son Bengi. He was charming. We had no reason to suspect his background.

“Maria never told anyone. She felt protected by the police; she didn’t want to worry her family even though she knew she had been assaulted by a convicted murderer.”

He added: “My sister and I were super close, she brought me up. I was out of the country for three or four days a week in the months before her death. It broke my heart to think I wasn’t there for her.”

Mr Fernandez and his family are now working closely with domestic violence charity Refuge to make sure no woman has to suffer as his sister did. He and his family are raising money for the charity in Maria's memory to support it in its "fantastic, selfless" work to support other victims of domestic violence.

He said: “At least two women a week are killed because of domestic violence. The real number is probably higher but lots of cases don’t get reported. Victims end up being suppressed or controlled. Women don’t want to exacerbate the problem by phoning the police, who often do nothing to protect them.

“My family wants to visit schools in Barnet to tell them domestic violence isn’t cool and educate girls and boys about what it means to be in a relationship and how women should be treated.”

He added he and Bengi, now 19, were also working on a “global” project designed to link people together across the world and enable them to live fuller lives.

He said: “I want three things: justice for Maria, to protect other women and do something amazing. The project’s called vvoosh.com. At the moment it’s shrouded in secrecy, but we’ll be launching in about three months time. It’s going to be huge.

“We want to turn our grief and pain into something positive. We want to help as many people as we can.”

To sign the petition calling for a public enquiry click here

To donate to Refuge in memory of Maria Stubbings and help other women receive vital support against domestic violence visit http://www.justgiving.com/MariaFernandez