'Uncoordinated search' missed chances to save man
GoogleAn "uncoordinated" woodland search for a man missed opportunities to save him, a coroner said.
Grant Lowry was found dead in woodland near Hartlepool on 3 June 2022, two days after his mother had alerted Cleveland Police to a worrying text message from him.
Teesside senior coroner Clare Bailey said police carried out an "unsatisfactory" search for the 20-year-old and made "incomplete records".
Assistant Chief Constable Dave Sutherland said "meaningful changes" had been made within Cleveland Police since and the force would examine the coroner's findings.
On the evening of 1 June 2022 Lowry left his family home, giving "no cause for concern", the coroner's report said, but that changed when he sent his mother a text.
Searching for him, the National Police Air Service (NPAS) identified two heat sources in the woodland and directed an officer towards one of them before leaving the scene.
Officers were "unable to reach" the heat source, which was not recorded accurately, "nor was the officer's inability to reach the heat source".
The coroner said the officer sent to the first heat source did not have a full set of PPE for a night-time search of a dense area and their torch and work phone batteries were flat.
The second heat source was not heeded, recorded nor searched, the coroner's report to prevent future deaths said.
Bailey said "the family were told that no heat sources had been identified by NPAS".
'Inaccurate recording'
The coroner said there was "no liaison" between Stockton Police and Hartlepool Police during the search on the evening of 1 June.
Bailey said: "There was inaccurate recording of which fields around Summerhill Park had been searched, which was relied upon by Supervision and prevented later searches of those areas."
She said there were delays in requesting help from neighbouring police forces and in requesting the involvement of Mountain Rescue and the police dog unit.
The coroner's report said Lowry was known to mental health services "where there were missed opportunities to provide further input into Grant's mental health".
The coroner said action should be taken to prevent future deaths and sent the report to the Cleveland Police Chief Constable, as well as NPAS and Tees Esk & Wear Valley Trust (TEWV) as interested persons.
Sutherland said the force offered "sincere condolences" to the family and friends of Lowry.
"Since 2022 a number of significant organisational changes have been made to managing incidents of this nature," he said.
"These changes have been recognised by the Coroner during the inquest and shared with Grant's family."
Elspeth Devanney, director of nursing at TEWV, said: "We recognise how painful the inquest process is for a family and our hearts go out to Grant's loved ones at this difficult time.
"We remain committed to providing safe and kind care to the people we support."
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