Death of missing man could not have been prevented by police, IPCC investigation finds
24 Apr 2014 01:04 PM
The
death of a man who was reported missing from a hospital in West Yorkshire could
not have been prevented by police responding to a missing person report, the
Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has
found.
The
independent IPCC investigation examined West Yorkshire
Police’s response to the report Peter Barnes was missing from Cygnet
Hospital on 13 October 2011. The investigation looked at
risk assessments which were conducted and the actions taken by officers from
West Yorkshire Police.
Mr
Barnes, from Lincoln, was reported missing by Cygnet Hospital on 13 October
2011 and assessed as a low-risk missing person.
The
actions taken by West Yorkshire Police to locate Mr Barnes included asking
Lincolnshire Police to check a number of addresses connected to him,
circulating a photograph and description, and issuing a nationwide alert to
other police forces. Searches of the hospital grounds were also conducted by
hospital staff and West Yorkshire Police officers. Mr Barnes’ body was
discovered in the grounds of Cygnet Hospital on 20 October
2011.
The
IPCC investigation found there was no case to answer for any
officer and there was no evidence to suggest that had the police acted
differently in any way, the death of Mr Barnes could have been
prevented.
The investigation which concluded in
March 2012 did, however, reveal a number of areas of learning for individuals
and West Yorkshire Police.
These included a recommendation that West Yorkshire
Police highlight to its Duty Inspectors the importance and value of maintaining
regular contact with the family of a missing person, and to consider developing
a clear protocol to ensure provisions are in place if missing person
coordinators are unavailable.
West Yorkshire Police has told the IPCC that since Mr
Barnes’ death the force has increased the level of intrusive management
applied to each missing person’s case at daily meetings. A guidance
document has also been prepared to inform and assist supervisors in dealing
with reports of missing persons.
Cindy Butts, the IPCC Commissioner for West Yorkshire,
said: "The death of Mr Barnes caused a great deal of distress for members
of his family, and I would like to offer my sincerest condolences to
them.
"While our investigation did not
find that any actions of West Yorkshire Police officers or staff contributed to
Mr Barnes’ death, we have made a number of recommendations to the force
so that its guidance for dealing with reports of missing persons can be
improved.”
At
an inquest that ended in November 2013 a jury ruled that Mr Barnes took his own
life while the balance of his mind was disturbed.
A
copy of the IPCC’s investigation report has been
published on the IPCC’s website.