FOI 18160
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: HRC0018160
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 6th July 2026. Please find below the response to your request:
Deaths in police custody
I am making this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
All deaths in police custody are referred to the coroner under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 and to the IOPC under the Police Reform Act 2002. These referrals are statutory. Information provided under statutory compulsion cannot be confidential in the section 41 sense. UK GDPR and section 40 do not apply to deceased persons.
Please answer each question separately.
Deaths in custody – annual totals
For each of the following periods:
- 1 January 2020–31 December 2020
- 1 January 2021–31 December 2021
- 1 January 2022–31 December 2022
- 1 January 2023–31 December 2023
- 1 January 2024–31 December 2024
- 1 January 2025–31 December 2025
- 1 January 2026–30 June 2026
Please provide the number of deaths :
- In police custody.
- During arrest or restraint.
- Following police contact where the incident meets the IOPC definition of a death in custody.
Demographic data – ethnicity, age and gender
For each death recorded in the periods above, please provide :
- Ethnicity (IC codes, 18+1, or ONS categories – whichever your force records).
- Age at death.
- Gender,
This is operational data created by the force. It is not confidential and does not engage section 40 or section 41.
Circumstances of death
For each case, please provide:
- Location type (custody suite, police vehicle, public place, hospital after police contact).
- Cause-of-death category as recorded by the force.
- Whether force was used; if yes, the type of force e.g., taser, restraint, riot shield.
- Whether mental health was recorded as a factor.
I am not requesting medical records or confidential clinical information.
Coroner information
For each death, please provide:
- The date the force referred the death to the coroner
- a list of categories of documents supplied to the coroner (for example, custody record, CCTV, officer statements, risk assessments)
- The inquest status (open, concluded, or pending)
- The inquest conclusion, if known to the force
Information supplied to the coroner is provided under statutory compulsion. Section 41 does not apply.
IOPC referral and investigation data
For each death, please provide
- The date of referral to the IOPC.
- The referral category (mandatory, independent, managed, supervised).
- The mode of investigation (independent, managed, supervised, local).
- A summary of IOPC findings held by the force (please provide the IOPC report or a verifiable and working link to that report).
- Whether any officer faced misconduct or gross misconduct proceedings and the outcome.
- Any learning recommendations issued.
- Whether the force implemented those recommendations.
IOPC referrals and investigations are statutory. Section 41 cannot apply.
Ethnicity recording systems
Please provide
- How the force records ethnicity (self‑defined, officer‑defined, or both).
- Any changes in ethnicity recording practices between 2020 and 2026.
Definitions and retention
Please provide
The force’s working definition of “death in custody”. The retention period for custody‑related death records.
Reply
Please note that, under the IOPC’s definition of deaths in or following police custody, there are no cases recorded for West Mercia Police during the period specified in your request.
For reference, the IOPC defines deaths in or following police custody as deaths that happen while a person is being arrested or taken into detention. It includes deaths of people who were arrested or detained by police under the Mental Health Act 1983. The death may have taken place on police, private or medical premises, in a public place or in a police or other vehicle.
This includes deaths that happen:
- during or following police custody where injuries that contributed to the death happened during the period of detention
- in or on the way to hospital (or other medical premises) during or following transfer from scene of arrest or police custody
- as a result of injuries or other medical problems that are identified or developed while a person is in custody
- while a person is in police custody having been detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 or other related legislation
This does not include:
- suicides that occur after a person has been released from police custody
- deaths that happen where the police are called to help medical staff to restrain people who are not under arrest