Metropolitan Police criticised after man jumped to his death in station

The Metropolitan Police has been warned following the death of a man who jumped off a phone booth inside a police station, having spent 18 hours in the waiting area.

Peter Jones, 68, climbed onto the flat hood of a phone booth inside Stoke Newington police station in east London, before jumping off onto the concrete floor.

He suffered devastating injuries and died shortly after.

Before the incident occurred, Mr Jones had written a suicide note, and had been rocking backwards and forwards and talking to himself, but none of his behaviour was spotted by officers, an inquest into his death heard.

His actions were captured on CCTV.

“We conclude that if those actions had been seen, it is more likely than not that police would have taken action and would have prevented his suicide,” jurors at the inquest determined.

Several police witnesses also told the inquest that if they had seen this behaviour they would have intervened.

Jurors highlighted the poor positioning of CCTV monitors in the station’s rear office, and a lack of police staff stationed in “the box” – the area that faces out to the public reception.

“During his time at Stoke Newington police station, the CCTV shows that Mr Jones displayed sufficient behaviours to indicate that he was an immediate danger to himself which, if seen by police staff, would have resulted in action that probably would have prevented his death,” the verdict read.

Senior coroner for Inner North London, Mary Hassell, has sent a prevention of future deaths report to the Met, warning that future deaths will occur unless action is taken.

Mr Jones spent some 18 hours in the public waiting area of the station before deciding to jump from the booth in November 2022.

Jurors determined that he died by suicide.

An inquest earlier this month heard the phone booths at the station have now been replaced, but jurors ruled there had been a “failure” to keep “sufficient oversight of the public reception area” by the Met.

“I heard that every police station has a different geographical layout, and that some of these are old buildings,” Ms Hassell said.

“However, a senior police officer giving evidence did accept that station officers could be positioned… facing out towards the public area, rather than further into the office facing each other.

“The jury noted that without the presence of a flat topped telephone hood, there would have been no means for Mr Jones to take his life in this manner.”

There are no flat topped telephone booths in any other of the Met’s stations, the coroner said.

“In my opinion, action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe that you have the power to take such action,” she told the force.

Scotland Yard will have 56 days to respond.

In 2022, former officer Bradley Francis was jailed for stealing £1,500 from a safe at the police station.