Response to concern for welfare and missing person’s reports - South Wales Police, January 2018
At 10.54pm on 9 January 2018, a woman called South Wales Police to report her brother as missing. She stated that he had put an update on Facebook which caused her concern, and she could not get hold of him. At 0.31am on 10 January 2018, the man was located safe and well at a friend’s address.
Later that day the local Community Mental Health Team called South Wales Police. They were concerned because they had not seen the man for a couple of days and they did not have anyone to go to his home address. On 11 January 2018 South Wales Police called the Community Mental Health Team informing them that the man had been located, safe and well, by police on 10 January and the Community Mental Health Team should continue their own enquiries to contact him.
The Community Mental Health Team went to the man’s home on 12 January 2018; he was not answering, so they called South Wales Police again. However, the force formed the view that the man had been located on 10 January 2018 and the man’s family had not contacted police again to report him missing.
At 11.28am on 13 January 2018 the man’s sister called South Wales Police, as she had been informed that the police had been using police helicopters to look for her brother. A call operator conducted enquiries and confirmed to the man’s sister that police had not been looking for the man after he had been found on 10 January 2018. She was told that, if she had further concerns, she should call back.
At 7.56 pm on 14 January, the man’s sister called South Wales Police and reported him missing. Police conducted several enquiries and were unable to locate the man. Officers forced entry to the man’s address at 11.47pm and found him dead inside. An inquest concluded later that the man had died from the toxic effects of taking an excess of prescribed and illicit drugs.
Our Investigators obtained accounts from the officers involved, reviewed call logs and recordings, and considered relevant national and local policies and procedures.
Evidence indicated that South Wales Police had acted in line with procedures when responding to the Community Mental Health Team’s concern for welfare report, and then when the man’s sister reported him as missing. It was not possible to say whether the man may have been found alive had police had sufficient evidence in which to enter his home sooner. The investigation did not identify any information that suggested he was at risk of serious harm, or that there was an immediate risk to life.
Based on the evidence available, we found no indication that South Wales Police caused or contributed to the man’s death, nor that any police officer or police staff may have committed a criminal offence, or behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of criminal proceedings.