A coroner has found that a student police officer who took his own life was ‘distressed’ about the prospect of returning to work and had been left waiting months for an occupational health appointment.
Anugrah Abraham, 21, from Whitefield, was found dead in woodland on 4 March 2023.
His sister told the inquest at Rochdale Coroners’ Court that her brother “seemed worried” about returning to work. He was training with West Yorkshire Police (WYP) at the time.
The inquest heard that Mr Abraham was struggling under the pressure of working as a trainee PC with the force while also doing a degree apprenticeship at Leeds Trinity University.
Concluding the inquest on 29 October senior coroner Joanne Kearsley ruled that Mr Abraham’s death was suicide.
The hearing was told that Mr Abraham had been left waiting months for an appointment with WYP’s occupational health unit prior to his death. This was despite him having spoken about depression and suicidal thoughts.
Following a meeting with a sergeant in January 2023, an urgent referral to the occupational health unit was made regarding Mr Abraham.
Although referrals were supposed to take five days before being seen by an occupational health nurse or doctor, an appointment was arranged for April.
Coroner Ms Kearsley ruled that Mr Abraham “should have been offered an urgent face-to-face appointment”, and added that the triaging of his case was flawed.
However, she said that no single person or agency “had the complete picture,” in respect of Mr Abraham, who had not contacted any NHS services about his mental health, she said.
In February, Mr Abraham was granted two weeks’ leave from work and visited Amsterdam with a group of friends. Before he went, the inquest heard that he was put on a development plan.
During the trip to Amsterdam, Mr Abraham told friends about the pressures he was facing at work, the inquest heard.
Two days before he was due back to work, Mr Abraham went to see his GP about a back problem. During the appointment, which he attended with his father, he did not disclose any concerns about his mental health.
The following morning, Mr Abraham had breakfast with his family and spent time applying for jobs before suddenly leaving the family home.
After he failed to return that evening, his family phoned police and reported him missing. He was found the following morning.
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Ms Kearsley ruled that “the prospect of returning to work was likely to have been a source of distress” for Mr Abraham.
He had been absent from work for two weeks, she said. “While I have no doubt he did not want to return, he had inexplicably not discussed any matters with his GP on 2 March. He had given no indication to his family of anything that raised a concern with them on 3 March.”
