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Police misconduct probe over missing man claims

Shyamantha Asokan
BBC News, West Midlands
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Matthew Caseby, 23, escaped from a mental health unit in 2020 and was fatally hit by a train

A police inspector is to face misconduct proceedings after complaints alleging a series of failings during a search for a missing man later fatally hit by a train.

Matthew Caseby, 23, a mental health patient at the Priory Hospital Woodbourne in Birmingham, died a day after he left the site by scaling a wall in its courtyard in September 2020.

His father Richard Caseby has made a complaint to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the police watchdog, alleging failings during the search for him.

The IOPC said it had recommended that a misconduct meeting should take place and it was West Midlands Police's role "to arrange the disciplinary proceedings."

The force said that the meeting would take place "in due course".

Mr Caseby's father said in a statement that "West Midlands Police utterly failed my family when we needed them most".

A man stands outside a redbrick building with a large staircase. He has grey hair and glasses. He is wearing a blue overcoat, carrying a walking stick, and reading from a tablet. Two journalists are standing in front of him.
Mr Caseby's father Richard attended court last year as Priory Healthcare was fined £650,000 for safety failings

An inquest jury ruled in April 2022 that hospital failings amounting to neglect contributed to Mr Caseby's death. The jury heard he should have been under constant observation but was left unattended.

Care provider Priory Healthcare was last year fined £650,000 for safety failings linked to the death.

The IOPC received and investigated a complaint from Mr Caseby's father, Richard, following evidence heard at the inquest.

It said its sympathies remained with Matthew's family and it had completed its investigation in December into the West Midlands Police response to reports he was missing.

"Our investigation considered the initial risk assessments and subsequent reviews by officers, the actions taken to locate Matthew, and what consideration was given to concerns and information relayed by his parents," it said.

Documents provided as part of the inquest proceedings were reviewed along with force and national policies on missing persons and mental health, it added.

"We obtained statements from several witnesses and interviewed a police inspector under misconduct caution.

"At the end of our investigation, we provided our report and findings to the police force and Matthew's father."

The IOPC statement continued: "We decided that a police inspector should attend a misconduct meeting in relation to their decision making and handling of information after Matthew was reported missing.

"It is for West Midlands Police to arrange the disciplinary proceedings."

Mr Caseby, who lived in London, was originally detained under the Mental Health Act following reports of a man running on to railway tracks near Oxford five days before his death.

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