Contact with a woman before her death - Durham Constabulary, August 2017

In August 2017, members of the public found a woman standing on the outside edging of anti-suicide fencing of the Hownsgill viaduct, County Durham. They engaged her in conversation and then manually restrained her (through the fencing) to prevent her from jumping. Two uniformed Durham Constabulary officers arrived at the scene a short while later. The police officers also engaged the woman in conversation and used handcuffs to secure her to the viaduct bridge. The woman agreed to climb back over the fencing on to the bridge. However, as one of the officers removed the handcuffs to assist her in climbing back over, she fell from the viaduct – falling from a considerable height to the ground below. The woman received medical attention at the scene and was airlifted to a local hospital, where she later died from her injuries. A subsequent inquest into the woman’s death reached an 'open' verdict.

We conducted an independent investigation into the nature and extent of the police contact with the woman prior to her death. We obtained accounts from all officers who had been present as well as from members of the public who had witnessed the event. We examined police body-worn video footage along with audio recordings of police radio communications and telephone calls made to and from the police control room.

After a thorough examination of all the evidence, we did not consider there to be an indication that any police officer involved in this incident may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence. All officers co-operated fully with our investigation.

After reviewing our report, Durham Constabulary agreed with our findings.