A mother has said she will not give up her fight for justice nearly a decade after her daughter died in police custody. Kelly Hartigan-Burns, from Darwen, was arrested on the night of December 3, 2016, after allegedly punching her partner Colette at their home in Barley Bank Street. A member of the public had called 999 after seeing her behaving erratically in nearby Bright Street.
Less than an hour after she was placed into Cell C2 at Greenbank Police Station, Blackburn, and put under half-hourly observations, the 35-year-old was found unresponsive at around 1.30am. She was taken to the Royal Blackburn Hospital where she died the following day, LancsLive reports.
Inquest findings
A four-week inquest held in 2022 ended with a jury concluding that several police failings contributed to Kelly's death. These included the actions of PC Simon Haigh, who had failed to inform his colleagues of Kelly's risk of suicide. After the inquest concluded, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) informed Kelly's mum June Hartigan that an investigation would be launched into PC Haigh's actions after finding he had a case to answer for gross misconduct.
During the inquest, jurors heard from a number of witnesses including police experts and officers, both serving and retired, involved in Kelly's arrest and detention. The 999 call was treated as the most serious “Grade One” incident, and PC Simon Haigh, who had 16 years of experience, and PC Rebecca Price, who was still training, were dispatched in a police vehicle.
They found Kelly sat down, smoking a cigarette. According to PC Price, she was upset and drunk, whereas PC Haigh recalled her being calm and not slurring her words. Despite a suicide marker being placed on records accessed by PC Price, the inquest heard how PC Haigh decided against asking for more information on this, and as she appeared to be OK, they took her to her home on Barley Bank Street.
Failures and misconduct
Once Kelly was home, her partner Colette informed PC Haigh that she had been hit by Kelly earlier that evening, and Kelly was arrested on suspicion of assault. PC Andrew Sarchet and Special Sergeant Megan Dawson, a volunteer officer, were tasked with taking her to Greenbank Police Station in Blackburn. However, they were not informed of the initial reason for the call out or the mental health history, with notes made by Dawson from her handover with PC Haigh only containing reference to a domestic abuse incident.
The jury found there was no evidence that PC Haigh had informed the special sergeant of any of the circumstances or any potential risk of self-harm or suicide. This, they said, was “an extremely serious omission which contributed to the death of Kelly”. While Kelly was taken away, Colette spoke with PC Haigh and explained concerns for Kelly’s mental health and that there was a risk she would self-harm or attempt suicide. PC Haigh did not pass this information to the staff working in the custody suite.
Kelly was taken to Greenbank Police Station and booked in by Sergeant Jason Marsden without the completion of a full risk assessment - despite her having a recorded suicide attempt nine months earlier and in spite of the events earlier that night. The inquest heard that Mr Marsden, who retired weeks before a police misconduct hearing found him guilty of gross misconduct, didn’t even ask Kelly's name before firing a series of questions at her and sending her to a cell in a matter of minutes.
Police apology and ongoing investigation
Deputy Chief Constable Sacha Hatchett, of Lancashire Constabulary, said after the inquest concluded: “Our thoughts first and foremost today are with the family of Kelly Hartigan-Burns and with all of her loved ones. Lancashire Constabulary owes a duty of care to all of those in our custody and they should be able to rely on us to keep them safe. We failed to do that with Kelly and for that we are truly sorry.”
Four years after the inquest, June says she is still waiting for answers. After being approached by LancsLive, the watchdog has now confirmed its investigation is "almost complete" after Lancashire Constabulary submitted additional information in October 2025.
An IOPC spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain with Kelly’s family and loved ones, as well as all those affected by her death. Our independent investigation into a complaint regarding some of the evidence heard during the inquest concluded in 2023 and found one officer had a case to answer for gross misconduct. Lancashire Constabulary, which is responsible for arranging the disciplinary hearing, shared further information, which was not available to us during the investigation, in October 2025 and we shared this with the complainant.
“We have since explored further lines of inquiry raised by this additional evidence to determine what impact, if any, it may have on our decision making. Our review of the new information is almost complete, and we await one further statement before we will be in a position to share our draft findings with the complainant and Lancashire Constabulary. We recognise the impact on all those involved to have matters unresolved, so long after Kelly’s death, and have been assured that we will soon have the information we require in order to reach our decision.” Lancashire Constabulary said the investigation remains with the IOPC.
