Police Scotland says it has learned from call handling blunders

It comes after a watchdog found it had not correctly handled three calls from a concerned mother, two days before her son’s body was found in his home.

Assistant Chief Constable Wayne Mawson said his force had since made “significant changes” in the management of custody enquiries. He added that staff had received briefings to recognise risk after an investigation into the case of 51-year-old Barry Croal found the calls from his mother Elizabeth Gillespie were not handled appropriately.

In her report published yesterday, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc), Kate Frame, said that despite Gillespie phoning police three times on February 20 last year to report concerns for her son’s safety, no action was raised and no police officers were sent to enquire about his safety.

It was only after she phoned for a fourth time, more than 38 hours after her initial calls, that officers were sent to his home in Fallin, Stirlingshire, where they found him dead.

A doctor certified the cause of death as a gastrointestinal bleed but could not give an estimated time, beyond saying that Croal had been dead for more than two hours before she arrived.

The report could not determine whether his life could have been saved if the matter had been handled effectively.

Frame said there was evidence of an apparent reluctance to transfer calls from Croal’s mother to the correct department, as she had chosen an incorrect call option.

Her investigation also found there was no guidance available to Police Scotland Service Centre staff on how to deal with “dropped 101 calls” from members of the public.

The commissioner made a series of recommendations to the Deputy Chief Constable to make improvements to police call handling.

She said: “Despite Barry Croal’s mother’s repeated efforts on February 20, 2017, in three calls to Police Scotland, to communicate her concerns about her son’s safety, she received little assistance in resolving those concerns until she phoned Police Scotland for a fourth time, two days later.

“In her earlier calls, she made it clear to both police officers and a member of civilian staff that nobody had seen her son for a number of days and that she had been unable to get into his house because it appeared that the door had been locked with keys from the inside.

“Barry Croal’s mother experienced a variety of failures by three separate police personnel within a 10-minute period, which must have undoubtedly been very frustrating and ultimately a distressing experience for her. This episode provides the opportunity for further learning and improvement by Police Scotland, to ensure that staff act appropriately and provide the correct level of service to members of the public seeking their assistance.”

In a statement, the dead man’s family said: “Barry was a father, son, partner and brother who is sorely missed. It has been just over a year since his death and the circumstances surrounding it have made it difficult for us, as a family, to come to terms with.

“We are aware of the Pirc report and the findings contained within it and we hope that Police Scotland take note of these findings so that no other family has to experience something similar.”

In her first two calls to the police 101 number on February 20, Gillespie spoke to custody enquiries, who told her to redial on 101 for a service adviser to report her son as a missing person.

She did so and gave her details and then hung up, expecting someone to ring her back, which did not happen.

Instead, the advisor updated the call log with the words “Advice Given/Resolved”.

Mawson said: “Even after the passage of time, our thoughts remain with Barry’s family and friends. We note the recommendations within the Pirc report and acknowledge the fact that there were some shortcomings in relation to the Police Scotland response to enquiries to establish his wellbeing... We recognised at an early stage these shortcomings and promptly made significant changes and improvements to manage custody enquiries both within and between Criminal Justice Services (Custody) and C3 Divisions. Staff have also received additional briefing to recognise risk and vulnerability at the first point of contact.

“These improvements have addressed the three recommendations made by Pirc and since the inception of this enquiry we have worked with Pirc to address these findings to further improve our call handling and custody management.”

LibDem justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP said: “The national force need to do everything possible to avoid any call falling through the cracks. We know the consequences can be devastating. Mr Croal’s family deserved better.

“People will expect the police to act on the Pirc’s findings.”

This case adds to the litany of failures by Scotland’s national force. It includes the case of Elizabeth Bowe, 50, a domestic abuse victim from St Andrews who died after being found seriously injured in her home last year. Police took 90 minutes to respond to her call and her brother was later jailed for life for strangling her.

John Yuill died when his car crashed on the M9 in 2015 and Lamara Bell, his passenger, died in hospital. They lay undiscovered for three days. The same year, officers responding to fears for a vulnerable 52-year-old woman – later found dead – were sent to the wrong house where they awoke a woman aged 84.

A “series of failings” was identified in how police handled the 2016 case of Andrew Bow, 37, a “vulnerable person” found dead a week after neighbours raised concerns with officers.