Response to breach of bail conditions - Metropolitan Police Service, January 2018

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) made a referral to us on 10 January 2018 after it was discovered that a 16-year-old had been on bail at the time he assaulted a shopkeeper. The shopkeeper sustained fatal injuries during the assault and the 16-year-old was charged with their murder.

At the point of making the referral to us, the MPS had identified that, in the days leading up to the assault, the 16-year-old had breached the conditions of his bail twice, but had not been arrested.

Our investigation examined three incident logs raised for two breaches of bail conditions by the 16-year-old. The investigation interviewed the officers responsible for closing these incident logs down and examined the rationale for these decisions against relevant policy, procedures and local guidance in this area.

The investigation found that resourcing pressures were an important factor in the decisions made, and that not all of the officers responsible for making the decisions had access to the police systems necessary for them to conduct research into the 16-year-old’s background. The investigation also found that there was very little in the way of guidance or training for officers making decisions around dealing with subjects wanted for arrest on the borough.

Based on the evidence available we found no indication that any person serving with the police may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings, or had committed a criminal offence. However, we were of the view that some of the officers may benefit from management action. We completed our investigation in September 2018.

After reviewing our report, the MPS advised that three officers would receive management action to identify expectations for future conduct and establish an improvement plan.