On 21 January 2016 the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) published their report into the death of Jan McLean. On 14 August 2013 Mr McLean died in Hospital following his arrest on suspicion of drugs offences. The IPCC investigation found Mr McLean was left alone in the back of a Police van for a short period following his arrest and it is likely that he consumed cocaine during this time, having concealed it on his body. The IPCC found that a Police Call Handler had failed to pass information on about Mr McLean to Police Officers at the scene which may have affected their decision to leave him in the Police van unsupervised and without having been strip searched.
The investigation identified further issues including miscommunication between Police and Health Officials over the type of drugs Mr McLean was thought to have consumed. This was despite the fact that Mr McLean communicated that he had taken cocaine once he became unwell at the Police Station.
As a result of the IPCC investigation Surrey Police held a misconduct meeting in respect of one Police Constable who was given a written warning in respect of a failure to pass on information from the Police National Computer about Mr McLean to colleagues. It is stated the investigation would also have recommended that a further Police Constable should have faced disciplinary action had she not subsequently resigned from the Force. Further as a result of the incident Surrey Police provided a Police Sergeant and a member of Civilian Police staff with additional training.
The IPCC made recommendations to Surrey Police including that all Officers be given clear directions that every detainee must be supervised and monitored while in transit.
Blog by Richard Hardy, Partner and Head of Police Misconduct
