The father of a teenager who died after going missing in floodwater says his son was “discarded” by police following delays in the search for him. Alan Hirst, 19, vanished while cycling home along the A4110 towards Adforton, Herefordshire, on February 5. It is believed he came off his bike on the flooded road before entering the water and suffering a cardiac arrest.
His family have raised concerns over the police search after an inquest heard a decision not to search the floodwater was not reviewed the following day. For three days, Alan’s loved ones searched for him before his body was discovered in a ditch beside the same road he had been travelling along.
Search decision not reviewed
When officers were eventually able to search the area safely on February 8, they found the teenager within just 20 minutes. His father Stev told the BBC: “It was like he was just discarded.”
The inquest heard police had information showing Alan’s last mobile phone activity, between 11.15pm and 11.30pm, was around the A4110. But a Police Search Adviser (PolSA) decided officers should not enter the floodwater because of safety concerns. That decision was not reviewed the next day because there was no PolSA on duty, the inquest heard.
The coroner found that had a Police Search Adviser been on duty on February 7, the decision not to search the floodwater would have been reviewed.
Family's anger and grief
Alan’s mum Hayley said: “And that’s what makes me so angry because that’s the bit that could have been avoided.” She said the PolSA told the inquest that location information from her son’s phone “might not be that accurate”. She added: “It just felt like one excuse after another.”
Alan, who was originally from Blackpool, would normally return home late in the evening and his family initially went to bed on February 5 without realising he had not made it back. Hayley said she realised something was wrong the following day when the family came together after finishing work. She described her son as “very charismatic”, with energy levels that were “off the Richter scale”. She added: “You knew when he was in the room because it just lit up.”
Hayley said: “You can’t put it into words how hopeless you feel when you’re searching. And then you find out they were under your nose the whole time in dirty ditch water that whole time. It’s heartbreaking.”
Coroner's warning and response
Concerns over the search have now been raised in a prevention of future deaths report following Alan’s inquest. In the report, James Bennett, coroner for Herefordshire, said the ability for police forces to provide round-the-clock specialist search officers was being impeded by a lack of training provision. He warned: “In my opinion unless action is taken to address the above concerns then there is a significant risk of future deaths.”
Supt Stuart Bill, from West Mercia Police, said there was no requirement for forces to have dedicated 24/7 PolSA capability, but it was working with the College of Policing to increase the number of qualified search advisers. He added the force's thoughts were with Alan's family and PolSAs played an “important role” in searches for missing people.
In response to the report, the chief executive officer at The College of Policing said it acknowledged “the concerns raised by the coroner” and would continue working with forces and national policing leads to ensure training and staffing arrangements remained appropriate for operational demand.
Alan’s family have also questioned other parts of the search, including what they said was a lack of public appeals for information. The bike he was riding that night has never been found. Hayley has since called for warning signs along the A4110, describing it as a “high-risk road”. Herefordshire Council said it would continue to “review and prioritise highway and drainage improvements across the county based on evidence”. It added that roads could be affected by flooding during prolonged periods of heavy rainfall.
