A damning Home Office report has revealed that police officers are overlooking clear indicators of homicide when investigating unexplained deaths, potentially allowing murderers to escape justice. The study, conducted by the Forensic Pathology Unit, found that signs of violence and other suspicious circumstances are being missed, particularly in cases involving elderly individuals or those who had consumed alcohol or drugs.
The report examined 32 cases where routine post-mortem examinations were initially conducted before being escalated to a Home Office-registered forensic pathologist. Of these, ten were later confirmed as murders, and five others were deemed suspicious, requiring further investigation. The report described the initial decisions not to call in a forensic expert as 'flawed', noting that these cases should have been treated as suspicious from the outset.
Examples of overlooked homicides included a severely wounded body found in a remote rural location, a young man who had been stabbed, and a corpse lying in a large pool of blood. The report warned that relying on routine post-mortems is 'risky and potentially unlikely to identify a complex murder', adding that cognitive bias may lead officers to assume natural causes for deaths involving the elderly or those with a history of substance abuse.
Chief Constable David Crompton of the National Police Chiefs' Council acknowledged that while there is no evidence homicides have been missed, 'the potential exists'. He stated that procedures for dealing with deaths are being reviewed to reduce the likelihood of such errors. The report also noted that cost considerations may deter forces from calling forensic pathologists, who charge around £2,500 per case compared to £100 for a routine post-mortem.
