Man dies following his release from custody - Norfolk Constabulary, July 2018
At around 8pm on 22 July 2018, a man was arrested by Norfolk Constabulary for being drunk and disorderly. He was taken to Kings Lynn Police Investigation Centre, where he was detained overnight. Before being released from custody, the man was seen by a liaison and diversion practitioner, where he disclosed that he had epilepsy and hadn’t had access to medication. (The ‘liaison and diversion’ service works with people involved in the criminal justice service who have an identified vulnerability; practitioners do not provide treatment.) This information was passed on to the custody officer, who released the man at 11.20am on 23 July 2018. The man was due to get a bus home.
The next day, the man was found dead in a water-filled ditch near the bus stop close to the Police Investigation Centre. CCTV footage shows that the man appears to have collapsed and fallen into the ditch.
Our investigators took witness statements from a number of individuals, including people who had seen the man outside the Police Investigation Centre, and from the Liaison and Diversion Practitioner. We also obtained and analysed CCTV, including footage from the Police Investigation Centre. We served a custody sergeant with a notice that their conduct was under investigation, and interviewed them under misconduct caution.
Evidence indicated that the custody sergeant did not appear to have acted on any of the ‘red flags’ relating to the man’s epilepsy and on his Police National Computer and custody records. There appears to have been a breach of policy in not seeking a healthcare practitioner’s (HCP) view regarding the man’s epilepsy and need for medication. We were of the view that the custody sergeant could have taken a few relatively simple steps: calling for a HCP, asking the man a few extra questions, asking him to wait inside until the bus was nearer, or arranging police transport for him.
Based on the evidence available, we were of the opinion that a reasonable tribunal, properly directed, could find misconduct for the custody sergeant, and that their acts and/or omissions should be considered at a misconduct meeting. We completed our investigation in January 2019.
After reviewing our report, Norfolk Constabulary agreed with our views.
In April 2019 the custody sergeant attended a misconduct meeting, where an independent panel found that, even though the custody sergeant had intended to act with total care and professionalism, there had been a breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour in respect to Duties and Responsibilities. The custody sergeant received management advice, to ensure they would consider appropriate care, including all medical issues, when releasing detainees in future.
We completed our investigation in January 2019, but waited until the inquest into the man’s death had concluded, in summer 2019, before publishing its outcome.