Man self-harms in custody - Dyfed-Powys Police, June 2017

A man was arrested on 24 June 2017 by Dyfed-Powys Police on suspicion of threats to cause criminal damage. During his risk assessment in custody, he disclosed that he had made a number of attempts to commit suicide over the past few weeks, and suffered from depression and anxiety.

The custody sergeant recommended that the man be provided with an anti-harm suit. However, custody CCTV footage indicates that no suit was provided. Within an hour of being detained, the man was found collapsed and unresponsive in a cell and was taken to hospital for assessment. When he returned to custody, the man disclosed to the custody nurse that he had made comments about killing himself in order to get himself released from custody more quickly.

On 25 June 2017, the man was given access to the exercise yard and his hooded top and trainers were returned to him. At approximately 3.42pm, he was found collapsed in the exercise yard, having tied his shoelaces and the cord from his top around his neck. He was assessed by paramedics and made a full recovery.

During the investigation, investigators obtained written responses under misconduct caution from the two custody sergeants who had been on duty when the man collapsed on 24 and 25 June. Investigators also obtained policies and procedures relating to risk assessments and the provision of replacement clothing in custody.

The investigation identified a failure in the overall care provided to the detainee and performance issues for five officers. However, we found no indication that any person serving with the police may have committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings. We completed our investigation in April 2018.

After reviewing our report Dyfed-Powys Police proposed to deal with the performance issues of the five officers through management action issued by a senior officer. This is to include an in-depth discussion of the investigation report and its findings so that officers can reflect on the incident and learn from it moving forward.

In addition, the force identified opportunities for organisational learning, which will be passed on to the Chief Inspector for Custody.