Response to intelligence received prior to an attack - Leicestershire Police, July 2016

On 27 July 2016, a man was the victim an acid attack, perpetrated by his former partner,

Leicestershire Police referred this case to us after it identified relevant intelligence, received prior to the date of the attack. The intelligence concerned the threat of an acid attack and the breach of a restraining order between the man’s former partner and an alleged accomplice.

During the investigation, we interviewed a number of subjects and witness. We also made enquiries to establish how the intelligence was disseminated.

Evidence gathered indicated that the man’s ex-partner was not contacted by police about the intelligence they had had. It also suggested that two calls logs had been closed down inappropriately without further action being recommended, and that there had been a potential failure to conduct proper risk assessments.

The Investigator concluded there was sufficient evidence upon which a reasonable tribunal, properly directed, could find misconduct for a police officer and a civilian member of staff. We also found that the performance of another member of staff and another police officer may be considered to be unsatisfactory in relation to their handling of intelligence about breaches of the restraining order.

The force agreed there was a case to answer for misconduct for both officer and member of staff. At a misconduct meeting, the case against the police officer was not proven. No action could be taken against the civilian member of staff as they were no longer serving in the same role.

The force also agreed that the performances of the other member of staff and police officer had been unsatisfactory and proposed to deal with that through management action.

We agreed that their proposals were appropriate.

Our investigation also highlighted some learning for the force around improving risk assessments and managing call logs. The force agreed to address these issues.