Investigation and inquest
On 11 November 2022 I commenced an investigation into the death of Peter Jones aged 68 years. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest yesterday. The jury made a narrative determination, which I attach.
Circumstances of the death
On 5 November 2022, Mr Jones spent some 18 hours in the public waiting area of Stoke Newington Police Station, before climbing onto the flat hood of one of the phone booths, and jumping off onto the concrete floor. He suffered devastating injuries from which he died shortly thereafter.
Coroner’s concerns
The jury noted that without the presence of a flat topped telephone hood, there would have been no means for Mr Jones to take his life in this manner. However, I heard at inquest that the telephone hoods in Stoke Newington Police Station have been replaced since Mr Jones’s death, and the flat kind are nowhere else in the MPS estate.
The jury also found that there was an MPS failure to have sufficient oversight of the public reception area from “the box”, the area that faces out to the public reception area.
I heard that every police station has a different geographical layout, and that some of these are old buildings. However, a senior police officer giving evidence did accept that station officers could be positioned in the box facing out towards the public area, rather than further into the office facing each other.