Investigation launched following death in custody of woman in Bradford

We have begun an independent investigation following the death of 41-year-old Claire Harper from Bradford.

Miss Harper was detained by West Yorkshire Police in the early hours of Sunday morning (7 January 2018) and was being held at Trafalgar House, Bradford. At around 12:30pm Miss Harper was found unconscious and unresponsive in her custody cell.

An ambulance was called and Miss Harper was transferred to Bradford Royal Infirmary, but sadly she could not be revived. Our investigators attended the custody suite and the post incident procedures on Sunday and have been carrying out their initial evidence gathering. 

Operations Manager Catherine Bates said:

“We would like to offer our sympathies to Claire’s family and friends and everyone affected by this tragic incident. We have been in contact with Claire’s family to keep them informed and provide them with our support during this difficult time. Whenever someone dies following contact with the police, it is automatically referred to us. This is a very serious incident and we will be investigating the contact West Yorkshire Police had with Claire prior to her death.”

The IPCC became the IOPC this week (8 January), after the IPCC asked for changes to the organisation’s structure following a major expansion of its work. The new name, established in the Policing and Crime Act in January 2017, reflects the new structure of the organisation which is no longer a commission.

Director General, Michael Lockwood, heads up an operational team led by the Deputy Director General, five regional directors and a Director for Wales. We make our decisions entirely independently of the police and government and neither the Director General nor the directors have worked for the police.