National recommendation - National Police Chiefs Council, November 2020
Recommendation date: 4 November 2020
Response due: 30 December 2020
Published: 14 December 2020
Custody and detention
The detainee attempted to complete suicide in his custody cell by manipulating a Spork he had been left in possession of into a weapon. The Spork was first sharpened and used in an attempt to cut his wrists. It was then used to remove the elastic from the waistband of a pair of trousers deemed safe by custody staff. This elastic was then formed into a noose and the Spork was used again by the detainee to twist the elastic and thereby tighten the ligature around his neck until he lost consciousness.
Recommendations (1)
Recommendation 1
Accepted
Recommendation
The IOPC recommends that the NPCC ensures that custody staff at all police forces are made aware of the risk of leaving detainees with unsupervised access to cutlery, as such items can be manipulated to cause serious injury to the … Read more
Force Response
Accepted action: NPCC custody have accepted the recommendations in full and have circulated them in our custody newsletter (which has gone out to all heads of custody in England and Wales and also to relevant stakeholders). This was sent out … Read more