Police delays in hunt for boy found hanged
Dog walker discovered BRGS pupil Tom
DElaYS in looking for a schoolboy later found hanged were caused by police staffing shortages, an inquest heard.
Thomas Gallagher, a Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School pupil, was discovered by a dog walker in a park.
a jury at the hearing was told that there should normally be 15 officers working on a Friday night shift covering the area, however police bosses only had seven staff available with three others on annual leave and two on maternity leave.
Thomas’ missing person call was categorised as a ‘Grade 2 priority’, however 15 delays were put on the call log between the initial 2.44am call and 8.49am because of a lack of available staff, the hearing was told.
The 16-year-old, who was expected to get ‘superb’ GCSE results later that summer, was described by his teachers as being intelligent and wellliked with high hopes of studying at Oxford.
a seven-day inquest into his death is being presided over by Manchester North Coroner lisa Hashmi.
The jury heard how Thomas had battled psychosis and Obsessive Compulsive Disor- der and had previously selfharmed and attempted suicide.
His worried family had phoned police in the early hours of July 11, 2015, to report him missing and he was found at just after 8am the same morning.
Inspector Robert Findlow said: “Every officer involved in this has learned some lessons and practices are changing and have changed.”
ATEENAGER sent heartfelt messages to friends thanking them for “being there” hours before being found hanged in a park.
Thomas Gallagher, a Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School pupil, was discovered by a member of the public in Old Kays Park in Tottington, Bury, shortly after 8am on July 11 last year.
The 16-year-old, expected to get ‘ superb’ GCSE results later that summer, was described by his teachers as being intelligent and well-liked with high hopes of studying at Oxford.
The first day of a sevenday inquest into his death was held before Manchester North Coroner Lisa Hashmi in Heywood on Monday. A jury heard how Thomas had battled psychosis and OCD and had previously self-harmed and attempted suicide.
His worried family had phoned police in the early hours of July 11 to report him missing.
Det Insp Richard Hunt, who was the lead officer on the case, said tests on the BRGS pupil’s phone and tablet revealed that he had ignored calls and texts from his family on the night.
However he had been in contact with five friends just before 8.30pm.
To one girl he wrote: “... tu est fantastique don’t go changing for anyone.”
In another message to another female friend he said: ‘ YOLO [you only live once]’ and ‘don’t let people go bossing you around...’.
A further message to another young lady went: “Thanks for being there when no one else was.”
DI Hunt said that Thomas had been wearing a Garmin Fitband – a form of smart watch – when he died which recorded walking movement and sleep.
Data retrieved from the device showed Thomas had been active during the day while working, then inactive for several hours after work before he left the house again.
He told the inquest that movement “stopped significantly” at around 8.30pm, which he says indicated that Thomas had been dead for almost 12 hours by the time he was found.
It was also heard how Thomas’ mood was “up and down”, and that 13 days before he died he had told a friend how he “had not felt this suicidal in absolutely months”.
But a week after that, he had posted a photo on social media of some new school books saying it was “going to be a great summer”.
The inquest heard how a lack of police staff working on the night of the incident delayed their response. The jury were told that there should have been a minimum of 10 officers on duty, covering the area in Bury, however police bosses only had seven staff available with three others on annual leave and two on maternity leave.
Inspector Robert Findlow said a meeting was arranged earlier in the week with the division and ‘concerns’ were raised over the lack of operational weekend staff.
Insp Findlow said he was told efforts would be made to ‘make sure there was sufficient staff on duty’. However, when he started his shift on Friday, July 10, he was informed by the evening inspector that there were ‘no more resources available’.
The jury heard how Thomas Gallagher’s missing person call was categorised as a ‘Grade 2 priority’, however 15 delays were put on the call log between the initial 2.44am call and 8.49am because of a lack of available staff.
Insp Findlow said all his staff were ‘engaged’ on other incidents.
He said: “There was a lot going on. It was an exceptionally busy night. We were dealing with 95 incidents that night and the following night it was 54.
“It was a priority Grade 2 which is why we were trying to get it resourced.
“There were Grade 1 incidents that required immediate response because there was an immediate threat and safeguarding that had to be responded to. Every officer involved in this has learned some lessons and practices are changing and have changed.”