Police contact following an altercation – Greater Manchester Police, January 2024

In January 2024, police officers were called to a pub following an altercation between two customers. Police officers spoke to the victim and were told that a second man, who had since left the pub, had threatened to end his life and may have been experiencing mental ill health.  

The officers progressed the criminal investigation and decided to continue with their work the following day. The second man was not considered to be high-risk or a missing person.

The man was found dead the next day. Officers went to the scene and confirmed they were not treating his death as suspicious. 

We received a death or serious injury referral from the force and decided to independently investigate the matter. 

We investigated the actions and decisions taken by officers when responding to the incident. This included the information given to the officers before they arrived, and the actions and decisions the officers made about the reported crimes of assault and criminal damage, and the reported concern for welfare. We also investigated what evidence there was that the victim may have been treated less favourably because of their sex and/or age. 

We considered whether the actions of the officers were in line with local force policies and procedures, national guidelines and training.

Our investigators interviewed witnesses, and gathered and analysed CCTV, radio transmissions, call recordings and body worn video footage. 

One police officer was served with a notice of investigation and gave an account under the misconduct caution. We did not find any evidence of misconduct but we recommended they should be dealt with using the reflective practice review process to strengthen their performance.  

We concluded there was no indication that a person serving with the police committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner justifying the bringing of disciplinary proceedings. 

We carefully considered whether there were any 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. 

We did not identify any organisational learning in this case.