Matthew Caseby: Police watchdog to review efforts to find patient who died

Matthew Caseby had worked as a personal trainer

A watchdog is looking into the police response to finding a patient who went missing from a mental health unit and was then fatally hit by a train.

Matthew Caseby, a patient at Birmingham's Priory Hospital Woodbourne, was unsupervised when he climbed a fence to abscond in 2020.

An inquest found hospital failings amounting to neglect contributed to his death.

His family now want the police response to the incident investigated.

Watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) confirmed it was looking into the matter.

It said it had served a West Midlands Police inspector with a notice they were under investigation.

Mathew Caseby, a personal trainer who lived in London, had been detained under the Mental Health Act by Thames Valley Police on 3 September after reports of a man running on to the railway tracks in a village north of Oxford.

He was then admitted to the Priory in Birmingham where, the inquest heard, he should have been under constant observation.

'Utterly negligent'

The 23-year-old was hit by a train near Birmingham's University station on 8 September, the day after he was seen leaving the hospital.

His father, Richard Caseby, a former managing editor at The Sunday Times and The Sun, said when police were alerted he had gone missing, he was registered as being at medium risk of serious harm.

This was later upgraded to being at high risk of harm, which meant more resources could be deployed in the search, but his family said this came too late.

Mr Caseby said the inspector who registered him as medium risk was "utterly negligent" and had "dismissed" all the evidence he was given that Matthew was at serious risk.

He said he had driven from London to Birmingham to help search for his son and got to within 200 yards of where he was struck but was "unable to save him".

A coroner wrote to the Priory Hospital and other health trusts to task them to make sure their perimeter fencings were safe

The IOPC said: "We are considering the initial risk assessments and subsequent reviews by officers; the actions taken to locate Matthew; what consideration was given to concerns and information relayed by his parents; and the conduct of an officer during the inquest into Matthew's death, which was held in April 2022.

"During the course of our investigation, we have served a West Midlands Police inspector with a notice informing them that they are under investigation for misconduct, in relation to their decision making and handling of information after Matthew was reported missing.

"The serving of notices does not necessarily mean that disciplinary proceedings will follow.

"Our enquiries, which are ongoing, have included applying to HM Coroner to obtain evidence and recordings from the inquest, and we are seeking statements from a number of witnesses."

Health and adult social care regulator the Care Quality Commission, which rated the clinic as inadequate after its inspection in September 2022, is also carrying out a "review of quality" at the hospital.

The BBC has contacted the clinic for comment.

In response to the inquest last year, the hospital said it accepted care provided at Woodbourne in this instance fell below the high standards expected from it.

It added changes had already been implemented in relation to policies, procedures and the hospital environment.