The family of a student police officer who died this month are calling for an independent investigation from the police watchdog after they claimed he faced discrimination, bullying and a lack of support.
Anugrah Abraham, known as Anu, was a 21-year-old student police officer on a placement with West Yorkshire police as part of his three-year apprenticeship degree at Leeds Trinity University
He went missing on Friday 3 March. He was found the next day and his family were told that he had taken his own life.
His family are calling on the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to investigate West Yorkshire police. They allege that he faced bullying, discrimination and a lack of support, which they say took place during his first on-the-ground placement at Halifax police station.
His family say he faced targeted bullying from colleagues. They allege he was shouted at in front of colleagues on numerous occasions and sent out to difficult disturbances on his own, including incidents concerning domestic abuse.
On one occasion, he was allegedly forced to carry out a full body search of a corpse found in a river early on in his training. In shock at seeing the body, Anu allegedly vomited, but his family say a colleague told him to “just do the search”.
His family claim he was made to conduct the search on the body alone, without teaching or peer support, and with no follow-up or debrief.
His family allege he was sent out to incidents alone working within a team and area, where he was the only young officer of Asian heritage, and may have needed external support.
One family member said: “There was no awareness or support that there might be different issues that would be relevant to him due to his race.” They claimed he would faced racist abuse from the public while on the beat, including being addressed as “Abdul” and spat at.
Anu allegedly told his line manager and others in the team that he was not coping well and did not want to go out on assignments alone. The family say he was put on a management plan in response.
On the morning of Friday 3 March, Anu had breakfast with his parents. His mother says that the stress and worry of going back to work the next day was clear. He was reported missing that evening.
As Anu lived in Bury, Greater Manchester police were in charge of his case. The family say that the way they were treated was “appalling”.
When Anu’s car was found near woodlands on the evening of 3 March, the family allege police did not search the area and told them that the woodlands were “dangerous” and contained wild animals such as “hedgehogs”.
The family allege that police refused to send a helicopter out to search for him. His body was found on 4 March by a dog walker.
The family say they were informed of Anu’s death, but were not allowed to see his body for three days. They say they were told by police that “as it was the weekend, the mortuary was closed to the public”. But when they visited the mortuary on Monday, they allege they were told by staff they could have viewed the body over the weekend.
Anu is described as “honest, loving, smart, hard-working” by his family, who say he was known by loved ones as a “gentle giant”.
In a statement, the family wrote that Anu was “the victim of a lack of duty of care” by the police force, which “failed across the board to nurture and support a young trainee police officer”.
The family requested that the IOPC conduct an independent investigation into West Yorkshire police, but were told the matter would instead be subject to a local investigation conducted by the force’s professional standards department.
They are calling for the police watchdog to conduct an independent investigation, and are being supported by Kids of Colour and the Northern Police Monitoring Project.
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire police said: “We take allegations of bullying and discrimination within the workforce very seriously. The force has referred itself to the IOPC, which deemed it appropriate that a local investigation was undertaken.”
DCI Dave Jones, of Greater Manchester police’s professional standards branch, said: “This incident was referred to our branch and the IOPC for review who concluded that GMP had not caused or contributed to Anugrah’s death and the force had responded appropriately to the missing person’s report.”
Regarding the family’s complaint made against West Yorkshire police to the IOPC, a spokesperson from the watchdog said: “The complainant will have the right to have the force’s handling of the matter reviewed by the IOPC upon conclusion of the investigation.”
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.
