Humberside Police officer asked to be sectioned

PC Sharon Houfe was awarded a MBE for her work tacking hate crime

A Humberside police officer begged mental health workers to treat her for depression just before she died, a coroner's inquest has heard.

PC Sharon Houfe had told mental health teams: "I'm going to end my life, I need to be put away."

She was found dead at her home in Hull just a few days later.

The hearing at Hull Coroner's Court was told how her family had phoned the crisis team begging for her to be sectioned and taken into care.

Dr Robert Kehoe, an independent consultant psychiatrist, told the inquest that it was not unusual for people to say they wanted to take their own life, but added: "The fact that she wanted to be put away should have raised alarm bells.

"It's clear she was asking for help, she had insight and the likelihood was that she would have accepted an admission to hospital," he said.

The inquest was told Ms Houfe had been seen, or assessed at least four times in the days before her death by different mental health nurses.

On one occasion she had turned up for an appointment but the nurse did not carry out an assessment as she had undergone one a few days earlier. Instead they had a conversation in a corridor.

Dr Kehoe said that on each occasion there was a missed opportunity, adding: "I think the fact that person is presenting repeatedly indicates escalating distress."

He also said that it had struck him as wrong that Ms Houfe was not taken on by the mental health crisis team.

"Was this an error?" asked the coroner Paul Marks.

"Yes," responded Dr Kehoe.

Ms Houfe was recognised for her work tackling hate crime in the New Year's honours list in 2014, being awarded a MBE.

The inquest continues.