Metropolitan Police "inadequacies" possibly "caused or contributed" to the death of a woman missing from London who was later found dead in Wales, an inquest has concluded. The body of 28-year-old marketing director Hannah Warren was found near the entrance of Port Talbot docks on February 4, 2016, around 100m away from where her car was found in a lock.
Ms Warren's family issued a statement at the conclusion of the inquest in Swansea paying tribute to her "natural style, charisma and flair" and calling for changes in the Metropolitan Police to ensure that "multiple missed opportunities to intercept Hannah" were not repeated in future.
The hearing before a jury had been told the Metropolitan Police in London had been carrying out an investigation to locate her as a medium-risk missing person after she was reported missing the previous day. The status was later changed to high-risk.
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Ms Warren's black Mini Cooper car had not been located but activated an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera in the Margam area at 3.23am on February 4, the inquest was told. CCTV footage captured her car entering the dock at 3.48am – nearly 15 hours after she drove from her home in southwest London at 11.16am on February 3 2016. Assistant coroner Edward Ramsay has vowed to carry out a "full and fearless investigation" into the circumstances surrounding Miss Warren's death and whether she intended to take her own life.
The inquest, which started on Monday January 16, previously heard how Ms Warren was allegedly raped by a colleague a year before her death. In the hours which led up to her disappearance, it was heard how she had been acting irrationally and displayed signs of delusion, believing she had spoken to former US president Barack Obama, had hacked into a government website and was being chased by government officials.
In the 15 hours that Ms Warren drove her car, the inquest heard how she travelled from London to Brighton, then to Exeter and Weston-super-Mare. She then joined back onto the M5 before joining the M4 to south Wales. The inquest heard how the Met Police did not contact Ms Warren's family and therefore did not determine if she had any family or social connections to the areas.
It was heard how the Met Police categorised Ms Warren a medium-risk missing person, and that a "low-stop" direction was placed on her vehicle. This tells police forces how much of a priority it is to stop a person's vehicle when they are detected or "pinged" on an ANPR. Although police forces should stop low-stop vehicles, it is medium and high-stop vehicles which are prioritised, the inquest heard.
It was also heard how despite a total of 27 of "pings" detecting Ms Warren's car on various ANPR cameras including in the Gwent Police and Avon and Somerset Police force areas, Ms Warren's car was not stopped. It was heard how both forces contacted the Met Police for more information about Ms Warren's vehicle, but the information did not reach Inspector Holliday who was overseeing the case. He said it was an issue at a call handler level.
The inquest heard evidence from Detective Inspector Liz Symmonds who leads the Met Police mental health team, whose role it is to ensure officers have appropriate training in the area. She told the inquest how she would have expected officers to detain Ms Warren under section 136 of the Mental Health Act if they had stopped her car and if she was still presenting a delusional and irrational mindset. Home Office pathologist Dr Ryk James believed Ms Warren died as a result of drowning.
You can read more from the inquest here:
During the hearing on Wednesday, January 25, Mr Ramsay summed up the evidence and sent the jury members away to reach their conclusion. He stated five shortcomings in the Met Police investigation into Ms Warren's case, which were admitted by the force. These are:
- On the overnight response team shift, which received the handover from Insp Holliday, there was a lack of action taken to progress the missing person investigation.
- There was insufficient and insufficiently timely use of the ANPR Bureau by officers investigating the missing person investigation.
- There was a failure to contact Ms Warren's family, in particular to check whether Ms Warren had any known friends or family members in the west of England.
- There was a shortcoming in the flow of communication from calls received into the Met Police by regional police forces to the response team investigating the missing persons investigation.
- The ACT placed on the Police National Computer directing a stop of the vehicle was marked as low-grade when it could have been marked as medium-grade.
Concluding the inquest on Thursday, January 26, the jury recorded Ms Warren's medical cause of death as 1A drowning and 1B head injury. They gave a narrative conclusion and answered the following questions:
"Was Ms Warren suffering from a mental disorder?"
"Did she leave London in her vehicle?"
"Was she in her vehicle when she entered the water?"
"Did she attempt to rescue herself from the confines of the harbour?"
"Did she drown during that attempt?"
"Did the inadequacies in the Met Police investigation possibly cause or contribute to her death?"
The jury replied "yes" to all six questions. Closing the case, Mr Ramsay thanked the legal advocates and court staff involved in the case. Addressing Ms Warren's family, he said he hoped the inquest provided them with the "scrutiny" they sought, adding: "I wish you all the best for the future."
Following the inquest, Ms Warren's family gave the following statement: "Seven years ago, after an uninterrupted five-hundred-mile journey, Hannah’s life tragically ended in an unsafe dock at Port Talbot, Wales. Two Independent Investigations (IPCC) into the Metropolitan Police found there to be no failings, learnings, or recommendations. This inquest, however, has found multiple missed opportunities to intercept Hannah and five admitted shortcomings from the Met Police. It is our belief that should this situation arise again, changes within the Met Police are not yet sufficient to prevent a similar outcome.
"For Hannah’s legacy, we will endeavour to pursue that changes are made. The family would like to thank DS Nigel Morgan of South Wales Police for his continued support and Coroner Edward Ramsey for his extensive work into compassionately exposing the complexities surrounding Hannah’s death.
"We would also like to thank our legal representatives, friends, family and any person(s) involved in supporting us through this process. Hannah’s natural style, charisma and flair gave her the rare ability to mean so much to so many people. Words cannot express the gaping hole that has been left in our family and we miss her dearly. After seven years, we are grateful she can now rest in peace. Where we saw the crescent, she saw the whole of the moon."
Chief Superintendent Colin Wingrove, lead for policing on the Central South Basic Command Unit at the Met Police, said: “Ms Warren’s death is a tragedy. I cannot begin to imagine the pain her loved ones have gone through and still keenly feel. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time.
“It is important we acknowledge the findings of the Inquest. I hope to be able to apologise in person to the family for the identified shortcomings in the police response. We have made contact with the family’s legal representatives to establish whether they wish to meet with us. We await to hear whether there will be a Preventing Future Deaths report. Should there be one, we will carefully consider its contents to ensure we take every opportunity to improve the service we provide to the public."
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