Avon and Somerset Police has been reprimanded by the police watchdog after a man attempted to take his own life when allegations of sexual abuse were made public on social media.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) identified "organisational learning" and told the force it needs to amend its policy so all suspects in cases of alleged child sexual abuse or exploitation are provided with the same level of suicide risk assessment, regardless of whether they attend voluntarily or are brought into custody.
The IOPC said: "We identified organisational learning from a death or serious injury review.
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"The case related to a man who was accused of sexual abuse against a family member and did not receive a risk assessment because he attended a police interview voluntarily. Details of the allegation were leaked on social media which led to the man attempting to take his own life."
The IOPC stated the allegations were made public on Facebook and that, while the police could not have foreseen the post on social media, no risk assessment was ever carried out for the man as he had attended interview voluntarily.
The watchdog said that, if he attended through custody, he would have been risk assessed on entry and release as per force policy. Avon and Somerset Police has accepted the recommendation and has amended its procedural guidance as a result.
The guidance now reads: "Officers should carry out a suspect self-harm and suicide risk assessment and appropriate risk management planning at the earliest opportunity in every Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation investigation in order to identify self-harm and suicide risks and any necessary control measures.
"Officers should record on the Niche report the steps taken to identify self-harm and suicide risks, and any control measures taken, in order to support ongoing risk management and provide a clear audit trail. All suspects in cases relating to alleged child sexual abuse or exploitation must be provided with the same level of suicide risk assessment, regardless of whether they attend voluntarily or are brought into custody.”
What Avon and Somerset Police said
In a statement, the police force said: “In June 2021, we made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), after a man under investigation for sexual abuse attempted suicide.
“The incident happened after details of the allegations were posted on a social media platform by a third party. The IOPC decided the matter was suitable for local investigation by our Professional Standards Department.
“After reviewing our report, in July 2022 the IOPC found police could not have foreseen the posting on social media. On 26 August 2022, the IOPC recommended a change to our policy around safeguarding suspects in child sexual abuse/exploitation investigations.
"Prior to this, our policy was to only automatically carry out a risk assessment if a suspect had been arrested; however the man under investigation in this matter attended a voluntary police interview.
“The policy was subsequently revised and published internally at the start of October 2022 to ensure officers will carry out a full risk assessment, with control measures implemented and a clear audit trail recorded, regardless of whether a suspect attends voluntarily, or has been brought into custody.”
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Prisoner suffered 'significant' brain injury after attempting to take her own life
