Shropshire Star

Police failings contributed to death of teenager found in Shropshire golf club pond, inquest jury finds

Police failings contributed to the death of a teenager whose body was found in a pond at a Shropshire golf club, an inquest jury said today.

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Tyrone Lock

The jury this aftrernoon delivered a narrative verdict into the death of Tyrone Lock, 18, whose body was fund at the Hill Valley Golf Club in Whitchurch.

Mr Lock, from Leominster, was under the influence of drugs and was hallucinating as he ran out of the Hill Valley Golf Club in Whitchurch in his boxer shorts when confronted by police in the early hours of November 20 last year.

He was found dead in a pond at the golf course by a greenkeeper two days after he disappeared.

His family believe police could have done more to look for him and that his life could have been saved if he had been found more quickly.

The jury inquest, which concluded today after four days, revealed he could have been found alive had police classified him as a vulnerable person, rather than a suspect on the run, because of his mental and physical state, having only been dressed in boxer shorts on a cold November night.

The 10-man jury also said that a helicopter request should have been made, which could then have located the teenager within enough time to find him alive.

Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin coroner Mr John Ellery told the inquest at the Park Inn hotel in Telford he would write to the chief constable of West Mercia Police, saying there were lessons to be learned from the tragedy.

The inquest heard that Mr Lock fled the hotel the golf club after claiming there were "demons" in his room.

Staff called the police because of concerns about his behaviour but he was not found despite a search with dogs.

Mr Lock had checked into the hotel with friends Len Evans and Jodie Stevens on the afternoon of November 20 last year.

Toxicology reports revealed the teenager had taken ecstasy and other drugs.

CCTV at the hotel showed him running out of the hotel at 6.29am on November 21.

He was not seen again until being found dead in the pond by a greenkeeper on the golf course on November 23.

Professor Archie Malcolm, who conducted the post-mortem after Mr Lock's death, told the inquest it was hypothermia that caused his death and not drowning.

He said the drugs Mr Lock had taken were not of sufficient quantity to have played any part in his death.

Pc Ryan Ford, one of two officers sent to investigate the hotel disturbance, said he did not give chase when Mr Lock ran off and that he waited for the dog unit to arrive as his scent might have confused the search effort.

Area dog handler PC Ian Wills told the inquest that he searched the grounds for about 40 minutes using a headlamp and had got close to where the body was later found, but he did not see him.

The inquest was told that West Mercia Police made a request to the National Police Air Service for a helicopter to trace Mr Lock's friend Len Evans as a "suspected drink driver who had escaped on foot".

But when that was refused a second request for a helicopter to help in the search for Mr Lock was not made because officers believed it was pointless after the first rejection.

This afternoon Detective Chief Inspector Paul Moxley of West Mercia police said: "We acknowledge today's verdict and we will now look to work closely with the National Police Air Service to review future call out procedures. Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Tyrone following his tragic death"

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