A MUM who believes her son would still be alive if it wasn’t for police errors said she feels she has run out of options.
Tracy Lock’s 18-year-old son Tyrone was from Hope-under-Dinmore and died in November 2015 at a Shropshire golf club.
He was found two days after he went missing and an inquest into the teenager’s death in 2016 heard that a request by police officers for a search helicopter was turned down, even though Tyrone had fled from the hotel at the golf course wearing only boxer shorts and socks in the early hours of a very cold morning.
The jury at the inquest concluded there had been significant police failings that contributed to the death of Tyrone.
Tracy, 48, felt that the inquest did not go far enough and took the decision to complain to the professional standards of the police. She felt that individual police officers were to blame for not carrying out a thorough search.
She said: “They said it wasn’t one specific police officer to blame and that it was a multiple agency thing but I don’t understand how they can say that.”
The inquest had heard that Tyrone had taken illegal drugs with two friends before hallucinating and running past police officers in a distressed state. The hotel staff had called the police.
Tracy said: “My son was not appropriately assessed and it was automatically assumed that he was going to just turn up somewhere.
“He was in a vulnerable state, practically naked, with no money or phone or car keys. I really feel if things were dealt with differently it would be a completely different outcome.”
She said there was just one police officer with a dog who looked for Tyrone for only 40 minutes, while another police officer chased after him but only went about 100 to 150 yards.
Tracy also questioned who was responsible for turning down the request for the second helicopter?
She added: “When I went to the inquest we knew from the autopsy report Tyrone had taken ecstasy. It was the way they portrayed Tyrone.
"It was like it was his own fault he did wrong and if he hadn’t been doing that he would still be here. That was probably his first time taking anything like that and probably why he had such a bad reaction to it.
"I am completely broken over losing my son and to be treated unfairly on top of it. Is is because we are travellers?”
The family were not given a family liaison officer.
Her complaint to the professional standards was not upheld and they said no individual misconduct had been identified and as no criminal offences were identified the matter had not been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Last month she was told that her appeal had not been upheld.
Warwickshire and West Mercia Police voluntarily referred the matter to the IPCC, which then referred it to the professional standards body.
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