Contact between police and a man before he sustained serious injuries - Leicestershire Police, September 2017

Leicestershire Police received a 999 call from a member of the public on 28 September 2017, reporting that a man had jumped from the top floor of a hospital car park. Police officers and East Midlands Ambulance Service arrived at the scene and the man received emergency medical attention for serious injuries sustained.

Previously that same day, Leicestershire Police had attended three separate incidents concerning the man, including a call reporting that he was self-harming in a hospital toilet. Officers attended this call and took the man to Accident and Emergency for treatment. During his treatment, the man absconded from hospital security, which a hospital doctor reported to Leicestershire Police. The call handler who took this call did not despatch officers to this incident.

The man jumped from the roof of the hospital car park three hours after this call.

Our investigation looked at all incidents involving the man and Leicestershire Police on 28 September 2017.

Investigators interviewed members of the public and police officers who dealt with the man. They analysed CCTV footage and police officers’ body-worn camera footage, along with the telephone calls made to the police. We also consulted a mental health expert to review decisions officers made regarding assessing the man’s mental health.

During the investigation, we found indications that the call handler who had taken the call from the hospital doctor had behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings.

However, by this time, the call handler had already terminated his employment with Leicestershire Police. He consented to being interviewed in relation to his failure to appropriately respond to the risk to the man.

The investigation found that the call handler had a case to answer for misconduct, however, as he was no longer with the police, no disciplinary procedures could be taken.

The force agreed with our findings. No further action was taken.