Report finds Police didn't do enough to find city pensioner after dropped 999 call

Police in Inverness didn’t do enough to make contact with a city pensioner found dead the day after making a 999 call for an ambulance.

That’s according to a report published today by the force watchdog, PiRC.

Albert Insch made the emergency call on the 26th of October 2016 – but struggled to be understood by the BT operator handling his call. It was then passed to police, where staff also couldn’t understand what was said.

Police did work out the mobile the 72-year-old had called from made two other 999 calls – but control room staff wrongly wrote down his flat number. That meant when they went to the supported accommodation block in MacEwen Court they were told the door they knocked was an empty flat. Staff there claim to have told officers where to go to find Mr Insch, but police dispute that.

The officers were at the supported accommodation for eight minutes before leaving without tracing Mr Insch. ACR staff meanwhile continued to try to contact Mr Insch by telephone, without success.

The call was closed that evening. Mr Insch’s body was found in his home the following morning by his carer.

The PIRC report (please see attached) found that despite conflicting accounts of the witnesses and the police officers, they and the ACR supervisors should have made further enquiries to establish whether Mr Insch was safe and well. It could not be determined whether, if officers had made more diligent efforts to trace Mr Insch, there would have been an opportunity to provide medical assistance and prevent his death.

The watchdog recommends that Police Scotland reinforces to operational officers and ACR staff the need to diligently undertake enquiries into ‘dropped’ 999 calls - where a call ends unexpectedly - and that such calls, especially involving elderly people, are investigated thoroughly to establish the welfare of the person.

The Commissioner said:

“This is a tragic case, where an elderly man endeavoured to seek emergency assistance but due to a previous error by ACR staff in accurately recording his address and a failure by the two officers who attended to establish whether Mr Insch was safe and well, he did not receive that assistance.

“I have recommended that Police Scotland reinforce to operational officers and ACR staff the need to diligently carry out enquiries when a 999 call ends unexpectedly.

“Furthermore, I have recommended that Police Scotland ensures that especially in cases involving elderly people, officers should not leave an incident before they have established whether the person is safe and well.”

In a statement issued through PIRC, Mr Insch’s family said:

“We have no further comment to make other than to thank the Police Investigations & Review Commissioner’s team for their support and professionalism surrounding the circumstances in the death or our father and husband."