A vulnerable father was found dead in a lift in a multi-storey car park at Royal Stoke University Hospital days after Christmas, following a police search of the grounds, an inquest has heard.
Dwayne Nicklin, 28, from Blurton, Stoke-on-Trent, was pronounced dead at 8.03am on December 28, 2023. Ambulance staff arrived within minutes of being alerted but could not save him.
Background and welfare concerns
Mr Nicklin, a dad-of-two, had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and emotionally unstable personality disorder, and had a history of self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Earlier in December 2023, he had attended the crisis care centre at Harplands Hospital, two days after posting a self-harm image on social media.
In the early hours of December 28, he video called his former partner, who he had spent around a week with over the festive period before leaving her address on Christmas Day. She called 999 shortly after 1am after he said he was by a car park near Harplands Hospital.
Police search and response
Police were dispatched to Harplands Hospital within two minutes of the 999 call, with the first officers arriving at 1.21am. They initially searched the grounds of the psychiatric hospital but could not locate him there. They then moved on to nearby Royal Stoke, where the search covered car parks and buildings. Mr Nicklin had previously worked as a security guard at the hospital and would have known his way around the site.
More officers joined the search, which included the only multi-storey car park in operation at the time. A second multi-storey car park, which opened in 2024, was under construction and not accessible to the public in December 2023.
Before 2am, Mr Nicklin called his former partner again, stating he was in a lift at the hospital. It was believed he may have been in the hospital's Lyme Building, based on the visual description of the lift and because it was an area he had previously frequented during downtime at his former job.
Search escalation and inquest
Police, assisted by hospital security staff who checked CCTV cameras, believed they sighted him in the Lyme Building sometime before 3am. Calls to his phone rang out but were not answered, indicating it was still switched on.
Chief Inspector Emily Butterworth, serving as force incident manager that night, told the inquest that the initial 999 call was graded as a concern for safety, and the call-taker had concerns about his personal wellbeing, drawing the call to her attention for review.
Six officers took part in the search. Police also contacted Mr Nicklin's mother, who worked in the children's accident and emergency department, and visited two addresses where it was thought he may have gone. At around 3am, officers at the scene requested that Mr Nicklin be classed as a high-risk missing person.
PC Amelia Stott said: "We had not located him within half-an-hour of our search - we wanted to increase the risk so we could get better resources and facilities to help us search."
PC James Davidson, who was teamed with PC Stott during their shift, said: "I tried to raise it due to the information we had. They informed me they wouldn't be making it a high-risk missing person and would keep it as a concern for safety."
Chief Inspector Butterworth said: "To me his intentions were he needed and wanted help. He was disclosing his location in order for someone to help him. He had always been a concern. We were concerned for him - the priority was to find him at the earliest opportunity."
An inquest into his death is ongoing.
