Fatal flaw?

Coroner questions police response time in pensioner’s death riddle

THE life of a sociable and independent pensioner may have been saved if police had acted sooner, an Oldham inquest heard.

Instead, Jean Bottomley’s body was found in a scrapyard more than 15 hours after she was reported missing.

The hearing, at Oldham Coroner’s Court, was told how the Springhead widower had been drinking with friend, David Frost, in his caravan in the Woodbrook Hamlet in Springhead on Friday, February 29, 2008.

Mrs Bottomley (64) left the caravan at 6pm. A short time later, Mr Frost’s brother, Raymond, and sister, Glenis, visited Mrs Bottomley’s daughter, Victoria Calverley, in Woodbrook Road, Springhead.

When Mrs Bottomley had not returned home by 9pm, Mrs Calverley phoned the police and reported her mother as missing.

The incident was given a priority rating of two, meaning an officer should have been sent to Mrs Calverley’s home within an hour.

The log showed response to the incident wasn’t until 1.30am when Constable Susan Webb visited Mrs Calverley.

A police helicopter was drafted in along with sniffer dogs, but pitch-darkness, heavy rain and wind meant officers were forced to abandon the search after a few hours.

Mrs Bottomley’s body was eventually found around noon at a near-by breaker’s yard attached to Woodbrook Farm.

Pathologist Dr Baiden Amissah found the cause of death to be hypothermia with a contributing factor of high alcohol consumption.

He said susceptibility to hypothermia was dependent on age, build and weather conditions and the consumption of alcohol would cause a more rapid loss of body heat. Dr Amissah said hypothermia would usually take two to four hours to develop but the condition could take hold within an hour in some cases.

Coroner Simon Nelson delivered a verdict of misadventure, but ruled out neglect on the part of Greater Manchester Police.

He said the hours between the last known sighting of Mrs Bottomley and the discovery of her body would always be a mystery.

“Mrs Bottomley’s death could have occurred any time after 6.30pm,” added Mr Nelson. “I have concerns as to the actions or inactions of the police from 9.30pm onwards for a period of four hours.

“That hour after the call was made, in which police should have acted, could have made all the difference.”

Mr Nelson said he will be writing to Greater Manchester Police to express his concerns and will pass their response on to Mrs Bottomley’s family.