Inquest into death of Bury man finds trainee officer wasn't failed

An inquest into the death of a Bury man who killed himself has found there's no evidence any steps should've been taken by authorities which could have prevented his death.

21-year-old, Anugrah Abraham, was training to be a police officer with West Yorkshire Police when he was found in woodlands near his home in March 2023.

His family claim he was was "stressed", "under pressure" and "didn't receive any support", despite raising issues with his managers. He was working as a trainee PC with the force while also doing a degree apprenticeship at Leeds Trinity University.

The three week long inquest heard Mr Abraham had spoken about depression and suicide and was left waiting months for work occupational health appointments before being found dead.

Rochdale Coroner's Court heard how the trainee police officer feared the sack and suffered nightmares about his station sergeant sitting on his chest and strangling him.

Claims made by his father, Amar Abraham, that he was bullied and suffered racism, are not accepted by West Yorkshire Police (WYP).

Rochdale Coroner's Court was told Sgt Mark Wade was described Anugrah Abraham as “scary” in the months before he died.

Giving evidence at the inquest on Wednesday, Sgt Wade said he “never intended to upset anybody”.

He said he was “deeply hurt” by Mr Abraham’s death and had previously asked him whether he had had any thoughts of self-harm or suicide, but was told “no” by the trainee.

The hearing was told there is currently a "massive problem" that many police officers are younger than historically and they are being managed by inexperienced officers, with big increases in officers requesting welfare support and elevated drop-out rates among degree apprenticeship recruits.

The force has since massively cut the numbers recruited through the degree pathway.

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