Woman found dead following concern for welfare report - South Yorkshire Police, December 2017

In December 2017, a woman contacted South Yorkshire Police (SYP) to report that approximately 13 hours earlier she had heard her female neighbour in an upstairs flat screaming and pleading. She had heard nothing from her neighbour since that time and was concerned for her welfare. The SYP call handler allocated the incident a ‘priority’ grading, which should have resulted in a police response within one hour. No officers were available to attend until approximately four and a half hours later. The officers made unsuccessful attempts to gain access to the block of flats and requested that other officers conduct a further visit later that night. No officers were available to attend until approximately six hours later, at which time they found the woman dead and her male partner with apparent self-inflicted injuries. The man was charged with her murder. He subsequently pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibilities.

Our investigators reviewed witness statements, police incident logs and recordings of the telephone calls between the police control room and the woman reporting her concerns for her neighbour. They also examined relevant policies and procedures covering the grading of incidents reported to the police.

The investigation concluded there was no indication any police officer or member of police staff may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence. The available evidence suggested that the woman was already dead and the man had self-harmed before the police were first notified of any concerns for her welfare. All police officers and staff co-operated fully with this investigation.

After considering our report, SYP agreed with our findings.