Police failings contributed to Blackburn custody death, jury finds

Kelly Hartigan-Burns, from Darwen, died in hospital in December 2016

Serious police failings contributed to the death of a woman who was found unresponsive in a police cell, an inquest jury has concluded.

Kelly Hartigan-Burns, from Darwen, died in hospital after being detained in Blackburn in December 2016.

The 35-year-old had been arrested over an alleged assault, but had earlier tried to take her own life.

A jury said if police "had shown more compassion" over her detention "there may have been a different outcome".

Lancashire Police said it was "truly sorry" it had failed in its "duty of care".

The inquest, held at County Hall in Preston, heard Ms Hartigan-Burns was under the care of a psychiatrist and was carrying prescribed medication when she was arrested.

She had left her home in Barley Bank Street on 3 December 2016 following an argument with her wife, dressed only in her pyjamas and dressing gown.

Lancashire Police received a 999 call to say she was walking in front of cars and saying "I need to die".

The inquest heard she was later found by two police officers in the car park of a church and taken home where her wife made an allegation of assault against her and she was arrested and taken to Greenbank station in Blackburn.

The jury said the failure of the senior attending officer to inform the transporting officer or the custody staff that Ms Hartigan-Burns was a suicide-risk "contributed" to her death.

Kelly Hartigan-Burns was taken to Greenbank Police Station in Blackburn

They also said the speed in which she was processed and failure to explain the custody process to her increased the risk of self-harm or suicide.

"If officers of Lancashire Constabulary involved in this incident had shown more compassion, acted diligently, practiced common sense, followed guidance and procedure from the moment they found Kelly in the church yard and throughout her detention there may have been a different outcome," the jury concluded.

Following the inquest, Detective Chief Constable Sacha Hatchett said: "Lancashire Constabulary owes a duty of care to all of those in our custody and they should be able to rely on us to keep them safe.

"We failed to do that with Kelly and for that we are truly sorry."

She said a "number of steps" had been taken since "to minimise the risk of such a tragedy being able to ever happen again", including "system changes to strengthen our processes when booking people into custody and increasing staff training".

Ms Hartigan-Burns' death was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct who examined the conduct of five officers and two custody detention officers.

One officer was taken to a gross misconduct hearing but retired before that hearing took place.

"The hearing determined that he would have been dismissed had he not retired. Another officer was subject to unsatisfactory performance procedures and management action," Det Ch Cons Hatchett said.

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