SYP’s failure to conduct PNC checks in the aftermath of the disaster

However, the IOPC did find evidence to show that SYP should have conducted PNC checks on all of those who died, shortly after the disaster. This is part of a standard process for updating the PNC and removing the records of those who have died from it. Though there is evidence to suggest that some checks were conducted, they were not done systematically and consistently, as they should have been.
This became apparent when, in June 2014 and with the consent of families, IOPC investigators conducted PNC checks on those who had died in, or as a direct result of, the disaster. If the process had been followed correctly, no records should have been found, as their details should have been removed from the PNC. However, investigators discovered that, as of June 2014, details of nine of those who died had not been removed from the PNC.
Following the IOPC’s discovery, the PNC has now been corrected and the relevant records removed. The IOPC wrote to the families of all those who died, explaining what had happened and offering to inform them if details of their family member had incorrectly remained on the PNC. Separately, the then National Policing Lead for Information Management apologised to the families for this oversight. In a letter, he explained that though he was not able to identify precisely where the process failed, the failure did not appear to have been a deliberate act.