Suicide while under investigation

Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FOI/24/6097

Version Date: 01/03/2024

The Professional Standards Department have provided the following information.

Data Source - Centurion, Niche

Cases identified as anywhere Reason Referred = "Death or serious injury" and Date Referred to IOPC = between 01/01/2019 and 31/12/2023

Only includes cases where linked Person Deceased = "Yes"

Manual review of results to identify persons who were under investigation for Sexual Assault or Rape at time of death 

We write to make a Freedom of Information Act request in respect of Devon and Cornwall Police Force and information relating to suspects who are under investigation for allegations of sexual assault and rape.

We request the following information:

1. Please state how many people commit suicide whilst either being released under investigation or on police bail for allegations of sexual assault and/or rape.

2. Please state how many deaths have been reported by your force to a Coroner where the deceased had:-
a) been under investigation by your force; and
b) the offence was one of rape and/or sexual assault.

Out of the 13 cases referred to in Question 1, 11 were recorded as being referred to a Coroner.

For two of the cases this data is not available.

3. Please state how many cases have been reported to the Independent Office for Police Conduct as a Death or Serious Injury matter by your force where:-
a) a person has died; and
b) had been under investigation for an offence of either rape and/or sexual assault.’

All cases referred to in Question 1 were referred to the IOPC.