British police worker lied 'about rail death girl so he could get on with his own job'

What an extraordinary mentality: Deaths are of no interest to the police!

The discovery of a teenage girl's body after she was hit by a train was delayed by a fortnight because a police worker lied to colleagues, a report will conclude today. A British Transport Police communications officer told detectives Natasha Coombs could not have been in a rail accident without their knowledge because every train has sensors to record collisions. In fact no such technology exists. Six weeks later Natasha's distraught mother, Joanne, 41, was struck and killed by a train in the same spot.

Today, an Independent Police Complaints Commission report will reveal that the BTP worker, who has now quit the force, admitted he told the lie so he could 'get on with his own job'.

Natasha, 17, left her family home in Dovercourt, Essex, in July 2007 and was last seen boarding a train that day in Ipswich, Suffolk. After she was reported missing, Essex Police contacted the BTP to see if there had been reports of anybody hit on railway lines. The lying worker handled the call. The IPCC report said: 'The communications officer admitted he lied to an Essex police officer, initially telling IPCC officers that he did so to end the call which would allow him to get on with his job, and that he actually had no knowledge of train sensors.'

The IPCC probe followed a complaint from Natasha's father Gary, 48, about the delayed investigation. It concluded the worker's lie affected the police's ' perception of the likelihood of Natasha being on the railway lines'. The report added: 'There can be no excuse for giving this false information.' The BTP communications officer resigned after being told he faced allegations of gross misconduct.

Natasha's body was found on August 10 next to rail tracks in Manningtree, Essex. Jurors at the November 2007 inquest concluded she died as the result of an accident - but that Mrs Coombs committed suicide.

IPCC Commissioner David Petch said: 'Mr Coombs twice suffered a grievous loss in a few short weeks. Clearly our first thoughts and our sympathy must be with him. 'Mr Coombs made a number of complaints about the police operations. We have substantiated four of them. 'In particular, we conclude that the police did miss opportunities for a timely and thorough search for Natasha Coombs.

'However, seven complaints have not been up upheld. The most prominent of these being that Essex Police deliberately misled the inquest. There is no evidence of this.' He added that 'our investigation criticised the decision not to categorise Natasha as high risk, when there were good reasons to do so'. He went on: 'We have also discovered shortcomings in the methods of search used and the liaison between Essex and British Transport Police.'

Essex Police Assistant Chief Constable Derek Benso apologised for the delay and said the force 'accepts that mistakes were made'.

And a BTP spokesman said: 'BTP has apologised to Mr Coombs for our failings in supporting Essex Police's investigation into the disappearance of his daughter, Natasha, and the subsequent death of his wife, Joanne. 'BTP has accepted the recommendations and taken appropriate steps to ensure lessons have been learned.' [Routine crap!]

Original report here



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