Call for help ‘not logged’ before brother’s M1 death

19 hours ago

Asha PatelLeicester

A police call handler believed a man calling about the welfare of his brother before his death was misleading her to "get a reaction", an inquest has heard.

Shafiqul Haidhar - who had a history of mental health issues - was seen to walk into traffic while awaiting recovery on the hard shoulder of the M1 motorway[1] in Leicestershire on 23 August 2023 before being struck by a lorry.

An inquest into his death has heard how Mr Haidhar's brother Kaisor Ahmed had pleaded for police to be sent to him and take him to a safe place.

However, police were not sent to the 39-year-old and he died about half an hour later.

The inquest at Leicester Coroner's Court heard that during the call at 07:12 BST, Leicestershire Police call handler Chelsea Wood was told by Mr Ahmed that his brother had been left alone to wait on the hard shoulder after crashing his car into the central reservation earlier that morning.

Mr Ahmed - from Barking in east London - asked if someone could be sent to his brother to ensure his safety, but was told by Ms Wood that officers could not "just stay by the side of the road".

He then told Ms Wood his brother was a vulnerable person and had mental health issues, and later in the call said Mr Haidhar had previously attempted to take his own life.

However, Ms Wood told Mr Ahmed highways officers would have assessed and safeguarded his brother, adding "they wouldn't have just left him".

'Should have probed'

Ms Wood did not attempt to call Mr Ahmed back and did not create an incident log in relation to the call, the inquest heard.

She told the court: "Due to the fact that mental health wasn't mentioned from the onset of the call, I believed that was said at the time to then get a different response from me."

She added having seen an incident log for Mr Haidhar's earlier crash, she believed the matter had been dealt with.

However the court heard Ms Wood did not open the log to check the details.

She told the court on reflection, she believed she "should have probed more" about Mr Haidhar's vulnerability.

Two call handlers from the Metropolitan Police also told the inquest they could have asked Mr Ahmed further questions to better understand his concerns before providing him with a non-emergency number for Leicestershire Police.

Prior to the call with Leicestershire Police, Mr Ahmed, who lived near his brother's home, had called 999 twice, connecting him to the London force.

During the first call at 06:24, Mr Ahmed said his brother was "not mentally stable" and would not recommend leaving him on the hard shoulder.

The call handler, Aaron Sarfarlie, said he would make further inquiries and call him back.

However, Mr Ahmed was not called back and instead received a text message with a non-emergency number for Leicestershire Police.

During a second call to the Met Police, Mr Ahmed asked to be transferred to Leicestershire Police, which call handler Dean Dickson said he could not do and advised Mr Ahmed to call the non-emergency number again.

Mr Dickson closed the log, marking the call as a "low-risk" matter, the court heard.

Both call handlers told the inquest they could have asked further questions to better understand Mr Ahmed's concerns before his brother died later that morning.

The inquest continues.

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this story, support and advice is available via the BBC Action Line[2].

References

1. ^ was seen to walk into traffic while awaiting recovery on the hard shoulder of the M1 motorway (www.bbc.co.uk)
2. ^ BBC Action Line (www.bbc.co.uk)