Mia Janin: Police admit losing evidence in teen suicide case

The bereaved father of a teenager who killed herself says he is "devastated" the Met Police has lost significant evidence including a mobile phone.

Mia Janin, 14, a pupil at the Jewish Free School (JFS) in Kenton, north-west London, was found dead at the family home in Harrow on 12 March 2021.

"I couldn't believe it," said Mariano Janin, who thought the items would shed light on the case.

The Met says it's "extremely sorry that these items have not yet been located".

Mia became the third JFS pupil within four years to take her own life. In March, an inquest heard the school "accepted that it was Mia's experience that she was being bullied".

The coroner had been due to consider evidence from Mia's mobile phone as part of its inquiry, a pre-inquest review heard.

"They don't care about me or the family," a tearful Mr Janin told the BBC, hours after the admission from Scotland Yard.

He added: "How could they have done this? I trusted them and co-operated with them.

"This phone was part of the evidence about what happened to my daughter. I was hoping that answers would have come out and the police told me that this was going to be key."

A separate investigation found Mia had sent a voice message to a friend ahead of the first day of term, in which she said she was "mentally preparing herself to get bullied".

Her parents had raised bullying concerns with staff at the school prior before her death, and the items were requested by the Metropolitan Police as part of its investigation.

"I come originally from Argentina, and I wouldn't expect this to happen in Buenos Aires," Mr Janin said. "The British police has a good reputation.

"I am still in shock. It is a nightmare. After two years of hell, the police have made my suffering worse, said Mr Janin, who lost his wife only four months after his daughter's suicide.

Mia's mother died after developing an aneurysm and contracting leukaemia. "I am alone, that's it," he added.

"I am devastated. I feel really bad. This is wrong."

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said his "thoughts are with Mia's family at this unimaginably difficult time".

He added: "It is totally unacceptable that key evidence in this case has been lost."

It comes two months after Baroness Casey's blistering review of the Met Police found systemic failures.

Scotland Yard said a search was continuing for the missing items, including a Sim card from Mia's main phone and a second mobile handset, although "all of our investigations relating to these two items had been completed at this point".

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: Both the Sim card and the handset were examined by specialists and then placed into the property store at Barnet police station with the intention of providing them back to the family at a later date.

"Unfortunately, we have been unable to locate these items within the store. We believe this may be due to the relocation of the investigating team to another station, during which time property was also transferred.

"We are extremely sorry that these items have not yet been located and have apologised directly to Mia's family for the added distress this has caused."

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