Man found dead following contact with police - Kent Police, October 2018

On 15 October 2018 Kent Police received a report that a man had left hospital without treatment following a suspected heart attack. This report defined the man as an absconder from hospital, and a missing person investigation began. Approximately two hours after the initial call, it became apparent that a missing person investigation was not required as the man had not been detained under the Mental Health Act; the hospital wanted to speak to him about treatment and, therefore, the police had no powers to act.

The man was later found dead by officers from Essex Police.

Our investigators gathered the following material in order to assist with the investigation: Kent Police incident log, recordings of the calls between the hospital and Kent Police, relevant policy and guidance and statements from Essex Police officers who later found the man dead.

We found that Kent Police had followed policy when, after further information from the hospital was received, and it became clear the man was not ‘missing’, the call was downgraded and no resources deployed to locate the man,

We found that the man’s death could not have been foreseen by Kent Police and was not connected to the report from the hospital that he had left without treatment.

Based on the evidence available we found no indication that any person serving with the police may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings, or had committed a criminal offence.

We completed our investigation in December 2018 but waited until the inquest into the man’s death had concluded, in summer 2019, before publishing its outcomes. The conclusion of the inquest’s jury was that the man’s death had been accidental.