Contact with a woman prior to her death - Gloucestershire Constabulary, March 2019

On 6 June 2019, during a routine visit by probation services to the home of a woman in Cheltenham it was revealed to them by the husband of the woman that she was dead inside the flat and had been for several days.

The police were called to the scene and the husband was arrested on suspicion of murder. A post-mortem later proved inconclusive and that the likelihood was that the woman had probably died as a result of her chronic illnesses.

As is usual when someone dies after any form of contact with the police, we investigated the circumstances surrounding the death of the woman and police contact with the couple in the weeks preceding the visit by the probation services.

No evidence was discovered that indicated that the police may have caused or contributed towards the woman’s death or that any person serving with the police may have committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner justifying the bringing of disciplinary proceedings.