Lincolnshire police officers cleared of misconduct
A woman died in Skegness after taking medication
Lincolnshire police officers have been cleared of misconduct after a woman died from an overdose hours after they left her.
The 44 year old had been taking medication at a Skegness caravan park in 2022.
A panel heard a Sergeant and PC trusted the ambulance service's judgement that the situation wasn't life threatening and were both cleared of the allegations against them.
The hearing described the ambulance crew's assessment as "wrong and inadequate" but didn't blame the police officers.
A neighbour claims they saw her taking further pills
A friend of the woman, who cannot be named, rang East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) in the early hours to say he believed she had taken large quantities of his medication.
Police spent half an hour at the scene on Winthorpe Way and left her in the care of a different friend.
Medical experts told the hearing there was nothing at the time to suggest she was about to collapse, and it was impossible to know when she had taken the fatal dose of medication.
A neighbour claims they saw her taking further pills after police had left the scene.
The woman called 999 twice more that night as her condition deteriorated and was told an ambulance would be there within eight hours.
She told a paramedic: “I think I’m going to die."
Her condition was never graded the most serious life-threatening “Category 1” by EMAS.
She was found unresponsive on the caravan steps the next morning and was pronounced dead shortly after.
In the woman’s final call, she told a paramedic: “I think I’m going to die."
"Will someone come and help me please? I’m going to die, I know I am."
The chair of the misconduct panel, concluded that officers safeguarded the woman as best they could.
They were both cleared of allegations that they breached police standards for discreditable conduct and carrying out their duties, with the PC also cleared of failing to challenge improper conduct.