The police watchdog has ordered a force to re-examine its handling of the case of a black student killed on a railway line after his parents complained their son’s death was not properly investigated because of his race.
Romello McCook, a talented and popular 22-year-old, was hit by a train after a night out in Plymouth, where he was about to begin a course in architectural engineering.
British Transport Police (BTP) immediately concluded it was an accident but his parents, Lawrence and Vivienne McCook, believe their son may have been the victim of a crime and have discovered a string of flaws in the inquiry.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has investigated how BTP dealt with the family’s complaint that the case was not taken seriously because of the student’s race and – in a decision seen by the Guardian – concluded the force should look again at how it has handled their grievance.
McCook’s parents, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, welcomed the decision and said they hoped it would lead to a full re-investigation. They are also hoping to learn more of what happened to their son when an inquest takes place in June.
Lawrence McCook said: “We felt we have been let down because of our ethnicity. That is very sad. Romello was our only child. We brought him to this country from Jamaica hoping life would be good. He did very well. He was very popular and very happy. But the police did not do very basic things when they investigated.”
Vivienne McCook added: “We felt the moment they went down there and saw it was a black person the investigation ended. The case was almost closed from that day. We were hoping the police would help us and they didn’t. We’ve had to become investigators.”
McCook was starting a new course in Plymouth in the autumn of 2018 having already spent three years studying in the Devon city. On the night of 29-30 September he went to a club and left in the early hours. His bank card was used in a shop at 6.05am and shortly after 10am he was hit by a train.
BTP put it down as an accident, but McCook’s parents could not understand why he was more than two miles from his accommodation and walking in the opposite direction.
They were mystified that he did not have his phone with him, though he was “addicted” to it and could not understand how he had got on to the line as there was a high fence. He had been drinking but his family did not believe he was so drunk that he had lost control.
Dissatisfied with the police inquiry, they carried out their own investigation and established his phone appeared to have been used after his death, suggesting to them that it may have been stolen.
Another police force reviewed the BTP investigation and concluded there were “missed opportunities” to trace McCook’s movements, including securing CCTV footage before it was wiped.
The report, seen by the Guardian, said: “What caused Romello to be at this spot, some miles from his address and walking in the opposite direction appears never to have been considered by the initial investigation … the concerns of the McCooks were not heard and evidence that could have potentially answered some of the questions regarding where Romello had been and who he was with were lost.”
The IOPC has written to the McCooks acknowledging that “errors” made at the start of the investigation led to them “losing a significant amount of faith in the police process”.
It said that none of the reviews had asked the McCook family why they felt ethnicity played a part in how the investigation was carried out and said their concerns about this should be looked at properly.
BTP acknowledges that questions remained unanswered but said there was “no evidence or information to indicate any suspicion or third party involvement”.
A spokesperson said:“We strongly refute the suggestion that his death wasn’t investigated properly because of the colour of his skin.”
