Police refused to look for a victim of the Rochdale child grooming gangs who had taken “multiple previous overdoses”, hours before she was found to have killed herself, an inquest has heard.
Charlotte Tetley, who had “suffered significant sexual abuse” at the hands of a child sex ring, was hit by a train in Macclesfield, Cheshire, on 24 September last year.
A coroner’s court heard that police had moved the 33-year-old from railway tracks six days before her death, and taken her to Macclesfield Hospital, but she left before having a proper assessment.
Hospital staff had called police to report her as a “high-risk” missing person but officers said her case did not meet official search criteria.
An inquest into Ms Tetley’s death at Cheshire Coroners’ Court heard hospital staff had asked to speak to a police supervisor when the patient abruptly left their care, but were told that “as Ms Tetley had not voiced [the] intention to end her life, it could not be known that this was her intention when she left the department”.
South Cheshire coroner Sarah Murphy said: “The police maintained that nobody would be deployed and suggested that a response vehicle should go out.
“The ambulance service was duly contacted… but the clinical lead was informed that, as the whereabouts of Ms Tetley was unknown, they would not deploy anyone”.
Ms Tetley had previously been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and substance misuse.
In addition, the coroner detailed how “she had taken multiple previous overdoses, with intent to end life”.
In a Prevention of Future Deaths report, the coroner said Ms Tetley “had a complex longstanding mental health history”, and had turned to drugs as a “coping mechanism” following the sexual abuse in Rochdale.
Ms Murphy urged health bosses to take action to prevent future deaths.
She added: “I am concerned that if a very narrow interpretation of policy is applied by the police when professionals report a concern for a high-risk missing person, in circumstances where they consider there to be an immediate risk to life, there will be a risk of future deaths occurring.”
Last year, a damning report found police and council bosses left children at the mercy of grooming gangs in Rochdale.
