The police culture based on ‘fear and discipline’ must end, the family of a police trainee who killed himself said, as a coroner recommended the force do more to tackle the rise in mental health problems among officers.
No steps could have been taken to prevent the death of Anugrah Abraham, a 21-year-old police student from West Yorkshire, the three-week inquest into his death heard.
However, the force must take note of options to prevent young officers suffering a similar fate, Greater Manchester North senior coroner Joanne Kearsley said, adding that she would release a report into the prevention of future deaths in Britain to national police chiefs. Council.
Abraham, known as Anu, committed suicide on March 3, 2023 after telling friends and colleagues he wanted to quit a police training course at Leeds Trinity University after struggling with his workload, finding himself in difficult situations and feeling bullied and belittled felt by senior officers.
In a statement read out by his younger sister, Elisheba Abraham, after the inquest, his family said: “We heard how he was given ‘crap’, which was witnessed by his entire team.
“A police culture based on fear and discipline is not the answer. A modern, supportive police force must welcome officers like Anu, who had so much to give. Bollocking is bullying.”
She added that police sergeants found her brother “an easy target, who did not answer and whose mild nature was interpreted as subservience.”
She said: “My beautiful, generous and happy brother is missed every day. We have lost a son, a brother, a friend. We thank everyone who has supported us during this time, including family, friends and kind-hearted strangers who continue to believe that Anu is worth fighting for.”
The family disagreed with the coroner that his death was unpreventable. “Anu was set up to fail,” she added.
His father, Amar Abraham, had previously given evidence at the inquest that his son was ‘under great pressure and fear’ after being given a development plan.
While the coroner did not find bullying or racism in West Yorkshire Police, she described one supervisor as having a ‘disciplinary style’, while saying an email sent to Abraham by another supervisor after a meeting about his appearance in which he revealed that he felt suicidal “reflects more the frustration felt towards Anu than it reflects concern”.
Kearsley also said the assessment of Abraham’s case was “flawed” after he disclosed the suicidal thoughts and that he should have been offered an urgent face-to-face appointment with the force’s occupational health department. But no organization or individual, including his doctor, friends, and family members, had a complete picture of what Abraham was going through.
She said: “I’m sure Anu’s family will agree that it is appropriate to remind all young men who are struggling that there are places they can access, such as Andy’s Man Club, and that it is it is crucial that they can talk. .”
Recording a verdict of suicide, Kearsley said: ‘There is no evidence that any steps should have been taken which, on the balance of probabilities, would have made a difference to the tragic outcome.’