AIBU to think that if you're in police custody you shouldn't be able to get out of the car?

[Chowtime]

Thinking of the awful news today about a 17 year old girl being transported who got out of the police car on the M5 and died 😓. Aren't those cars fitted with child locks?

The police statement uses the term ‘police vehicle’ twice. It’s the news article I’m reading that is using the term car. You get small
police vans.

Anyway, the point is we don’t know enough to speculate, what happened or whether if police who can’t put up with a bit of ‘thrashing about and noise’ (so ridiculous) should be police officers.

We also don’t know that she was arrested, she could have been a reported missing person being returned home, she could have been unwell and being take to hospital or place of safety to be assessed, she could have been seeking help from DV, or fleeing abusive parents.
whatever happened is a tragedy for the officers, the family and the driver that hit her - this will never go away from them.

RIP young lady, life taken too soon and greatest sympathy and respect tot hose who have to live with the aftermath.

I'm guessing, like most of us you have no idea of the circumstances around this tradegy, so maybe wait until we find out what actually happened.

It doesn’t sound good does it but we don’t know any details about it and and I’m sure the life’s of all those affected, including the police officers and their families, have been changed forever. So sad.

We live not far from the M5 in Gloucestershire and it's frequently closing these days due to "concern for welfare" incidents. It may well have been a MH crisis that she was detained for and then this happened.

"The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the teenager was being transported to custody by Avon and Somerset Police before the incident"

This does suggest that the vehicle has suddenly stopped on the hard shoulder mid transportation duty rather than being at an incident actually happening on the motorway. It also seems unlikely to be a MH related detention if she was being taken to custody and not to a hospital or other place of safety.
'Custody' would suggest she was under arrest.

All conjecture at this stage though with such limited info.

Burst tyre?
Mechanical problem?
Medical episode? Either girl/officer?
Did she make a grab for taser/pava?spray the driver or other officer?

Yes,even those with MH issues are taken into custody!

Either concern for welfare,own safety or committed a crime.....she will be assessed when appropriate adult is present

I don’t trust the police unfortunately and pray the truth is able to come out.

What a load of crap. She could have kicked, spat, faked medical episode. Police have to cope with horrendous crap everyday more than most people will ever realise.

terrible for the girls loved ones and the officers involved - very sad all round

What the fuck is the point in speculation at this point.

Actually no, Police custody would only be used as an absolute last resort for anyone detained under the mental health act.
They would be taken to a hospital, mental health facility or other suitable place of safety

All very sad. Feel for the driver/drivers that hit her and everyone involved.

It seems from the limited statement, that she had previously been under the police care. I wonder if it’s a MH breakdown. The officers pulled onto the hard shoulder for reasons unknown. She then managed to escape and run onto the south bound lane.
I can’t imagine how horrific for the car driver and the officers. Plus her poor family.

The M5 was closed for over 12 hours in total due to the investigation. I believe it reopened at lunchtime.

Why she was being transported on the M5 I don’t know. Both towns have a police station although the holding cells may well be at Bridgwater now. There’s a new police building there.

@sel2223 where did it say she was detained under mental health act? I missed that bit!

What a pointless thread. Of course she shouldn’t have been able to get out. Of course something went badly wrong and of course this doesn’t happen often and this incident is a freak rare occurrence that needs fully investigated.

I've read another news article that says that the girl was being transported in a police van. I would have thought that a police van was even more secure than a car but not sure what to think really.🤔

It didn't.

I was saying it is highly unlikely to be MH related as the limited statement said she was being transported to custody.

Agreed.

That’s not quite correct. A custody suite would be considered a place of safety for the police to take someone suffering from mental health concerns to be assessed by a mental health professional who are the ones who decide if they should be detained under the Mental Health Act.

There’s so much we don’t know.
Maybe she said she was going to be sick so they pulled over, unbelted her, and she ran.
Maybe she got out of the cuffs.
Maybe she started having a seizure.

In the statement it says police vehicle.

Unless things have changed in the last couple of years the guidance was always that a police station should only ever be used for this purpose as an absolute last resort.

It differs obviously in Scotland and England (different acts, I’m in Scotland) but a quick Google shows the premise is the same. Where I am it would depend on their behaviour but they can’t just rock up to hospitals if they were a risk to the public or psyche wards (they wouldn’t know if a bed/place was available) without a mental health professional assessing them first, so they would brought into custody in the first instance, for that to be facilitated and determined if they should be detained to hospital. Like I said that’s where I am.

I'll wait until the inquest before I start having a go at the police. Tragic news though.