Emily Greene: Police admit failings in teen's abuse claim inquiry

Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police Stephen Watson said the inquiry did not meet the expected standards

An investigation into the alleged sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl who later took her own life fell "well below" expected standards, say police.

Emily Greene told South Yorkshire Police she had been assaulted by a man, but the force dropped the inquiry.

She was found dead in a field near Barnsley in November 2018.

Senior Coroner David Urpeth found there had been "deficiencies" in the way the initial allegation had been investigated.

In his Prevention of Future Deaths report, Mr Urpeth also criticised the fact Emily was not seen personally to explain the decision to cease the investigation.

He said police had "mishandled" a subsequent investigation into her disappearance.

The force admitted it took officers more than three hours to attend her home address after she was reported missing on the day of her death.

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In a letter to Mr Urpeth, Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police Stephen Watson said the force was "committed to learning the lessons from this case" and has already taken action in respect of the findings.

He said the force accepted the initial investigation into the allegations made by Emily "were not investigated to the standard expected by South Yorkshire Police".

He said a review of the claims found "this investigation appears to fall well below the standards of what would be expected" and that the decision to shelve the inquiry "lacked rationale".

Mr Watson said the delay in responding to the missing persons report - which should have been dealt with in under an hour - was the result of the call being initially wrongly graded.

However, he said once the mistake was spotted it was a further 71 minutes between re-grading and officers being assigned.

He said: "This time is not what is expected of either the Communications room staff or attending officers for this type of incident."

'Little comfort to family'

The handling of the missing persons report was investigated by the Independent Office for Police Complaints (IOPC).

A spokesman said while it had identified "failings" there was no evidence of misconduct or a criminal offence.

He said a separate investigation had been carried out into the handling of Emily's allegations of sexual assault and a report had been passed to the coroner.

A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police said the findings of the coroner and the IOPC had led to "significant improvements in the way we operate", adding: "But we accept this holds little comfort for Emily's family who have been so deeply affected".