Police contact with woman before her death - South Wales Police and Devon & Cornwall Police, April 2021

At 1.30am on 21 April 2021, Devon and Cornwall Police notified South Wales Police that a woman had contacted them in distress from Southerndown beach, near Bridgend. Officers attended Southerndown beach and at approximately 2.04am, they located the woman in a precarious position at the edge of the cliffs. 

Officers attempted to pull the woman to safety but at approximately 2.10am, the woman fell from a ledge on the cliff face. 

Officers made their way to the foot of the cliffs and administered first aid but they were unable to revive her. The Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) and ambulance arrived at approximately 2.46am and the woman was sadly pronounced deceased at 3.07am.

Our investigation started following a referral from South Wales Police in April 2021. We obtained and reviewed police incident logs, the 999 call recording and officer body worn camera footage. 

We also obtained accounts from South Wales Police officers and staff involved as well as the Coastguard. The circumstances were then reviewed in light of relevant legislation, guidance and policies.

We completed our investigation in July 2021. During the investigation, there was no indication any police officer had behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or had committed a criminal offence. We also did not identify any evidence that might support a finding that either police force could have done anything differently to prevent the woman’s death.

We have waited for all external proceedings to finish before publishing our findings. At an Inquest held in May 2023, the Coroner recorded a conclusion of death by misadventure.

We carefully considered whether there were any organisational learning opportunities arising from this investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents. 

Although we did not issue learning recommendations, we identified good practice around the way in which the Devon & Cornwall Police Call Handler reacted to a pressured situation. They continued talking to the woman until South Wales Police officers arrived on the scene, remaining calm throughout, offering sympathy and reassurance and listening to and responding to what she was saying without judgement. 

We have recommended that the call between the woman and the Call Handler should be used in training as a good example of building rapport and providing non-judgemental support. 

We also recognised the tremendous bravery and dedication shown by South Wales Police officers at the scene who worked together to try to save the woman. They risked their own safety in poor weather conditions and acted together quickly in an attempt to pull the woman up from her precarious position on the cliff face.