Gross misconduct proven against two Devon and Cornwall Police officers over level of care to man who died

A police disciplinary panel has found gross misconduct proven against two Devon and Cornwall Police officers for failing to provide appropriate care to a man who died. 

The hearing outcome yesterday (Thursday) follows an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation into the officers’ actions and decision-making. The panel, chaired by Assistant Chief Constable Nikki Leaper, decided serving Police Constable David Bishop should be dismissed, and that former constable Daniel Baber would have been dismissed if still serving. 

The officers were sent soon after midnight on 1 November 2022 to a report of a man at St Erth railway station who appeared to be drunk and vulnerable. 

They encountered the 51-year-old man just outside the station at around 1am. He appeared to be asleep and was snoring heavily, but officers managed to briefly converse with him. They established his identity and that he lived in supported accommodation in St Austell. The officers requested, via the police control room, for an ambulance to attend. After 50 minutes, they left the man lying on his side with an ambulance’s arrival time unknown, and resumed enquiries elsewhere into a high-risk domestic incident. The man was not under any shelter and the weather conditions were poor.  

CCTV shows the officers briefly drove by St Erth railway station at around 2.20am but did not stop or conduct any check on the man’s welfare. The officers returned to the railway station just after 5am and found the man still asleep, but now rain soaked. They renewed a call for an ambulance and remained in their police car a few feet away from the man but close enough to hear him snoring. Around 50 minutes later, the officers noticed the man’s breathing and condition had deteriorated and called for a defibrillator while attempting resuscitation. CPR was taken over by paramedics when they arrived at 6.15am. Sadly the man died in hospital later that morning. 

The disciplinary hearing was told the man died from pneumonia and drug intoxication and it was not alleged that the officers’ inaction was causative to the death. 

Our investigation began following a referral from Devon and Cornwall Police on the day of the man’s death. The investigation considered whether the officers took adequate steps to safeguard him in the circumstances. The hearing heard evidence that the more experienced officer, PC Bishop, had also made a misleading or inaccurate entry on the police log to overstate their actions in monitoring the man’s welfare. 

IOPC regional director, David Ford, said: “Firstly I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the family and friends of the man who sadly died. While the officers did arrange for an ambulance to be called and did return after several hours to check on the man, our investigation found their safeguarding actions sorely lacking. 

“After identifying the man was potentially drunk and incapable, and in need of treatment, they made the decision to leave him alone on a cold autumn night without ensuring he received medical attention. They did not attempt to move the man to a more sheltered position or cover him to keep him warm.

“They did not request assistance from another police unit available that evening or discuss the situation with a sergeant or the control room. They didn’t consider other options available including driving the man to hospital themselves and made only limited enquiries about whether anyone known to the man might be able to assist. In summary, the officers failed to provide appropriate care to a vulnerable individual in need of medical attention, contrary to their training and expected police practice.”

The disciplinary panel found that the officers had breached police professional standards of duties and responsibilities, and discreditable conduct. The panel also determined that PC Bishop knowingly made a false entry in the police log, and in doing so breached the standards of honesty and integrity.

During the investigation, IOPC investigators obtained and reviewed police incident logs, call recordings, radio transmissions, officer body worn camera footage, CCTV footage, and police vehicle GPS data. Investigators also obtained accounts from other witnesses involved, and interviewed the two officers. 

At the end of our investigation last year, we sent our report to Devon and Cornwall Police, along with our decision the officers should face gross misconduct proceedings. PC Baber resigned from the force in May this year. We also shared our report with the coroner to inform a future inquest and advised the man’s family of our findings.