Police accused of dismissing concerns on trans teenager

POLICE brushed concerns about a suicidal transgender teenager “under the carpet”, an inquest has heard.

Jason Pulman was found dead in a park in East Sussex on the evening of April 19 2022 with a note that read: “I’m sorry, mum.”

Sussex Police had received a missing person report that morning after the Pulman family found Jason’s bedroom empty. The force classed Jason as a “medium” risk despite the teenager having attempted suicide only months earlier. The 15-year-old’s mother, Emily, called the police four times throughout the day before an officer arrived at her house at 7.11pm.

“I felt in my stomach that something bad was going to happen,” she told an inquest into Jason’s death at Hastings Coroner’s Court yesterday.

“I just felt so frustrated the police were doing nothing.”

Police had classed Jason’s level of risk as a missing person as “medium” despite the teenager having a history of trauma and mental ill health, including serious self-harm and substance misuse. The classification suggests officers viewed the risk of harm to Jason as “likely but not serious”, according to Sussex Police’s missing persons policy.

There is no set response time to a medium-risk case, but the policy requires “an active and measured response by the police”.

Ms Pulman, who searched for Jason herself and contacted friends, said she had told the police that Jason was acting strangely the night before. Despite her concerns, the force did not escalate its assessment to high risk, which would suggest harm is “very likely”.

Later that day, Jason was found dead by a member of the public in Hampden Park, Eastbourne. Ms Pulman told the court: “The police could have done something and they didn’t. I was so used to social services brushing our concerns under the carpet and it felt the same.” Sussex Police has been contacted for comment. The inquest continues.