WIREDGOV

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has issued its findings from its investigation into the actions of Nottinghamshire Police before the death of John McGrath in July 2009. 

In May 2009, William Barnard was identified by Nottinghamshire Police as a suspect in an attempted robbery but he was never arrested. In July 2009 he assaulted his grandparents, John and Mabel McGrath. John McGrath subsequently died from the injuries he sustained.

The IPCC independent investigation found that while the initial response from the police to the attempted robbery was appropriate, once William Barnard was identified as a suspect a number of failings occurred. The findings include:

• a delay in CID officers actively investigating the case
• no attempts by detectives to speak to William Barnard after he was identified as a suspect  despite having his name and address for two months;
• a failure to prioritise an investigation that had a suspect with mental health issues where there was a belief he had committed a violent crime;
• a failure to supervise staff on the investigation.

The IPCC found that three officers had a case to answer for misconduct.  Nottinghamshire Police has since issued them with management advice.

The findings from the independent investigation could not be released until the conclusion of the inquest at Nottingham Coroners’ Court, which today found that Mr McGrath had been unlawfully killed. William Barnard was previously remanded indefinitely to a high security hospital after admitting manslaughter in January 2012.

The IPCC initially decided to manage an investigation by Nottinghamshire Police into this matter.  Following a complaint from the family, via their MP, the IPCC decided to carry out an independent investigation, examining the police response to the attempted robbery and re-examining the findings of the managed investigation, including the liaison with the family. 

The independent inv estigation found failings in the managed investigation.   Mr McGrath’s family were not updated, as they should have been, and the investigation did not identify key lines of inquiry, the issue of William Barnard’s mental health, or that officers involved in the robbery investigation might have breached the standards of professional behaviour.

IPCC Deputy Chair Sarah Green said:

“There are clear lessons for Nottinghamshire Police in how they deal with suspects with mental health issues. While we can never know if arresting William Barnard would have prevented John McGrath’s death, it is not acceptable that an identified suspect with mental health concerns was never visited, questioned or arrested for his suspected part in an attempted robbery.

“There are also, however, lessons for the IPCC, many of which emerged in our own recent review of the way that we investigate deaths.  As a result of this, and our learning in this and other cases, we no longer manage such investigations, but carry them out ourselves from the beginning, with oversight from our independent commissioners.  We have also improved the way that we work and liaise with bereaved families, and instituted more robust quality measures.

“I have met the family of John McGrath to discuss our investigation, and our investigator has taken them through the independent investigation’s findings.  I   have also apologised to the family in writing, and now do so again, for the inadequacy of the initial managed investigation and its failure to reach proper conclusions.”

The IPCC made a number of learning recommendations to Nottinghamshire Police following the investigation which the force has fully accepted.