Abigail Lawton, a 21-year-old native of Wigan, has accused two Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers of “chilling” her home after she disappeared into the woods. According to the report published in the Daily Mail, Ms Lawton was having a mental crisis and disappeared from her home, after which the ambulance service called the police for support, concerned for her safety.
In response to the call, two officers and a policewoman from Greater Manchester Police were sent to her home to search for her. After ensuring that Lawton was not at home, the officer left, leaving her colleagues behind to wait in case she returned. Meanwhile, police launched a helicopter search to find Lawton's whereabouts.
The Daily Mail further reported that the officers made themselves comfortable inside Abigail's home where they sat on her couch with their feet up and watched Netflix on her TV. One officer even used Lawton's dumbbells. The entire scenario was captured on Luton CCTV camera,
Later, when Lawton was found in the woods, she was held in police custody for 12 hours. Upon her return home, Abigail Lawton viewed the CCTV footage and made a complaint about the officers' conduct towards GMP's professional standards.
Abigail Lawton was taken into custody rather than taken to hospital
According to a Daily Mail report, Abigail Lawton was missing from her home for 11 hours before she was found in a helicopter search by two Greater Manchester Police officers.
Explaining her disappearance, Ms Lawton said:
“I was in the woods really struggling, I overdosed before I left and I was having a really bad mental health crisis.”
When Ms Lawton was found at around 4am, she was asked to get into a police car, and when she refused, an officer allegedly pushed her into the back. Speaking about this to the Daily Mail, Abigail shared:
“I was crying my eyes out because I was so sad, and he said, 'I have no sympathy for your crying. You've wasted my time by looking for you for five hours.'
Abigail also stated to the media that the sergeant told her that she would be taken to the hospital. To her dismay, she was detained instead.
“I spent 12 hours in custody. During my interview, a female police officer asked me: ‘How would you feel if there were no police officers available for emergencies because they were all looking for you?’”
She further added:
“At this point, I had not seen the footage of the officers sitting on my couch, but they were clearly not busy if they were looking for me sitting on the couch watching TV.”
During her detention, a mental health nurse came to visit Abigail and urged her to file a formal complaint, as she should have been transferred to hospital. Subsequently, Abigail Lawton filed a complaint with GMP Professional Standards regarding the conduct of the officers.
In response, a GMP Professional Standards spokesperson said they would not discipline the trio, reports the Daily Mail. They added that officers needed to remain at her home for protection reasons in case she returned.
GMP told the two officers that their behavior “did not breach standards of professional conduct”, but they should reflect on their behaviour. Furthermore, Ms Lawton was told that she could appeal GMP's decision.
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