Ambulance and police 'missed opportunity' to help tragic man

HIS BODY WAS FOUND IN CANAL DAYS LATER

- By ANDREW ROBINSON

EMERGENCY services 'missed' an opportunity to help a mentally ill Huddersfield man just hours before he is thought to have run into a canal marina.

A member of the public called police to report concerns about Paul Alexander's erratic behaviour but was told it wasn’t a matter for the police and was advised to ring the ambulance service instead, an inquest heard.

The caller spoke to the ambulance service but didn’t provide a location and was transferred back to the police.

The caller ‘grew tired’ of being passed from one emergency service to another and then put the phone down.

In the end, neither organisation took any action and they didn’t contact each other about the call.