Ozeivo Akerele
19 Jul 2017 · Coroner Sean McGovern · Coventry
The coroner's concerns
1. body not recovered promptly
“failure to find the body of Mr [name redacted] despite an intensive search when in fact his body was found very close to the last confirmed sighting of him”
2. disused graveyard not searched promptly
“failure to search the disused graveyard at or about the time of his disappearance. where Mr [name redacted] was eventually discovered 15 months later by children”
3. search team missed body in graveyard
“failure of the search team to find Mr [name redacted] when they did eventually search the disused graveyard in approximately late February 2015 despite the graveyard being approximately 60m x 30m”
4. recommendation not acted upon
“The recommendation by for a more thorough search was not followed up”
5. search advisor unaware of recommendation
“The Police Search Advisor was unaware of the recommendation for a more thorough search by”
6. search advisor unaware of search scope
“The Police Search Advisor was unaware of the (cursory) nature of the search of the graveyard in February 2015”
Responses
2017-0337-Response-by-West-Midland-Police.pdf ↗· West Midlands Police
Stated action
“The case will now be referred to the National Missing Persons Operational Group to consider working with the Police Search Advisor (POLSA) to amend guidance around how a search is co- ordinated in similar cases; specifically providing clarity around the tasking of the search, what is being searched for and the accurate recording of search, completed with oversight by Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) and POLSA.”