Two police officers have been disciplined after failing to properly pass on and record information which may have assisted in the search for a missing person who was later found dead.
Police were called in the early hours of 10 June 2009 after a patient at a healthcare park in the Greater Belfast area (Man A) failed to return after a medical appointment at a different hospital.
A member of staff at the healthcare park called police at around 1am and said that Man A was missing from their care, and was being treated for depression and suicidal tendencies. He also said that he would be contacting local Accident and Emergency Departments to check if Man A had been admitted to any of them.
The officer who took the call recorded it under the category of "Concern for Safety" but failed to record that Man A had been receiving treatment for depression and suicidal tendencies.
A police unit was sent to check on what they believed to be the man's home address, but had to recheck the details after it emerged that the information provided to police had been incorrect.
After receiving the correct address, the patrol arrived at Man A's house at 2.21am. The property was secured by a fence and a code-operated gate. No response was received from an intercom and no lights were seen on at the property.
Police relayed this information back to the hospital where Man A was being treated. Staff at the hospital then gave the police the address of the man's next of kin, and also provided further information about previous suicide attempts by Man A.
This information was added to a call log by police, but was not reported directly to the Sergeant supervising the search.
Police then called at the address of the next of kin but received no response and a decision was taken that further enquiries would be made the following morning.
At 9 am the following morning police checked the details of Man A's car and subsequently found it parked at his home address. Shortly after 9.30am, after police had received no response from the address, officers were granted permission to force entry to the property.
On entering, they found Man A's body. A post mortem was carried out the following day, which established the cause of death to be hanging.
The Police Ombudsman subsequently received a complaint from Man A's family that police had failed to make reasonable efforts to contact Man A at the earliest opportunity after being informed he was missing.
Investigators obtained copies of all relevant documents, radio transmissions and telephone calls and interviewed all the officers involved in the police response.
After assessing the evidence, the Police Ombudsman, Mr Al Hutchinson, concluded that "vital information passed to police should have been recorded and disseminated to supervisors and officers on the ground."
Mr Hutchinson said the report made to police by the healthcare park should have been recorded and acted upon as a Missing Person report. He added that, given the information provided to police, it may well have then been treated as a medium or high priority.
Mr Hutchinson also concluded that police should have contacted Man A's next of kin at the earliest opportunity to obtain any information which may have assisted them.
Two officers have since been disciplined in relation to these failings.