Police looked in wrong place for man killed on A45

Police looking for a missing man on a busy A-road failed to find him before he was hit by a car and killed as they searched in the wrong area.

Northamptonshire Police searched the A45 near Earls Barton, Wellingborough, twice, after receiving reports of a man walking against the traffic.

An investigation by the police conduct body (IOPC) found errors in the recording log of the man's location.

But the IOPC said it found no indication of any police misconduct.

The force was first alerted to the man walking on the carriageway in the direction of a petrol station on 22 October at 23:40 GMT.

The IOPC found that at 23.51, two officers searched both sides of the carriageway for approximately 10 minutes.

They left to attend another incident after failing to find him.

Less than an hour later, a member of the public contacted police stating the man was in the carriageway, and that they had nearly hit him.

The same response officers were assigned to the incident.

At 00:45 on 23 October 2021, it was reported that the man had been struck by a car driven by a member of the public.

Ambulance staff at the scene confirmed he had died from his injuries.

The IOPC said on its website: "We recognised there were errors in relation to how the location of where the man was sighted was recorded on the incident log.

"This in turn, appeared to have led to confusion within the log, and the correct search area was not communicated to the response officers by the dispatcher.

"Furthermore, the evidence showed that response officers incorrectly identified one of the junctions resulting in a shortened search area."

The IOPC added: "We issued learning recommendations in relation to recording locations on relevant logs.

"We recommended that Northamptonshire Police review the appropriateness of the pre-determined list of locations for the A45 in their internal system.

"The force should consider what improvements can be made to allow the recording of junction numbers and ensure the list appears in geographical order."

An inquest held in January 2023 determined the man's death was accidental, the IOPC said.

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