Inspector faces misconduct hearing after search failures

A West Midlands police inspector faces disciplinary action for failings in the search for a vulnerable man who had escaped from a mental health hospital and was later hit and killed by a train.

- RACHEL CLUN

A two-year investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has found that Inspector Colin Baker should face disciplinary action over the death of 23-year-old Matthew Caseby.

The personal trainer had been involuntarily admitted to the hospital in 2020 after he was found running onto train tracks, but managed to escape after being left alone in a courtyard from which other patients had previously escaped.

Mr Caseby’s father Richard Caseby said that as soon as he learned of his son’s escape, he raced from London to Birmingham to search for him through the night, and got within 200 yards of his son before Matthew was hit by a train.

“I flagged down three patrol cars during the night of my search. Not a single officer knew anything about my son’s escape. West Midlands Police utterly failed my family when we needed them most,” Mr Caseby said.

An IOPC spokesperson said the organisation completed its investigation in December following the referral of a complaint by a member of Matthew’s family.