Complaint about actions of officers on scene and the delivery of death message – West Yorkshire Police, June 2023

At 6.12pm on 9 June 2023, a woman rang West Yorkshire Police (WYP) to report that she had discovered a man hanging in a wooded area in Ossett. Police officers arrived at 6.22pm and started to preserve the scene. 

At 6.27pm, Yorkshire Ambulance Service paramedics arrived, and with the assistance of the police, cut the man free and commenced CPR. 

Paramedics were able to obtain signs of life and the man was transferred to Leeds General Infirmary for treatment. 

WYP were unable to locate the man’s family to notify them. Hospital staff subsequently contacted the man’s family on 13 June 2023. The man died later that same day. 

The man’s family made a complaint about the actions of the officers at the scene and the delay in notifying his next of kin of the incident. 

During the investigation, there was an initial indication that one of the police officers who dealt with the initial scene may have acted in a manner which, if proven or admitted, would justify disciplinary action. The officer cooperated fully with our investigation and provided an account of their involvement and their decisions and actions. We considered this against local and national policies and procedures that outlined how the police should deal with sudden deaths, in particular hangings, as well as training records for the officer. 

We also examined body worn video footage, police radio recordings, police incident logs and obtained witness statements from other officers involved in dealing with this incident. 

We did not investigate the man’s death as that was a matter for WYP and HM Coroner. 

The investigation concluded that the officer did not have a case to answer for misconduct but that the identified matters would most appropriately be addressed by way of the Reflective Practice Review Process (RPRP). 

An officer reflecting on their actions is a formal process reflected in legislation. The RPRP consists of a fact-finding stage and a discussion stage, followed by the production of a reflective review development report. The discussion must include:

 • a discussion of the practice requiring improvement and related circumstances that have been identified, and 

• the identification of key lessons to be learnt by the participating officer, line management or police force concerned, to address the matter and prevent a reoccurrence of the matter. 

We concluded our investigation in September 2023 and shared our report with WYP. WYP did not agree that RPRP was appropriate in the circumstances, however, agreed that the officer would receive some reflective practice. 

In November 2023, HM Coroner held an inquest into the man’s death and reached a conclusion of suicide. 

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

In this case we identified potential areas for improvement in relation to the local and national policies provided to police officers in relation to how they assess a victim’s mortality status, what they should do in relation to resuscitation attempts and how specific policies should complement each other rather than contradict each other. 

We continue to consult with WYP before determining whether it is appropriate to issue recommendations using our legislative powers.