Inquest concludes into the death of Ted Farmer, aged 19

The five-day inquest at North London Coroner’s Court was told that on New Year’s Eve 2022, after attending a party with friends, Ted had driven his car into a ditch in Thurston, Suffolk. Suffolk Constabulary officers found Ted in a highly vulnerable state, unresponsive on a nearby bank. An officer began CPR, and Ted became responsive after one chest compression. An officer then arrested him, and took him into custody where he was charged with drink-driving.

 

The arresting officer did not inform the custody officer at Bury St Edmunds police of the pertinent information in relation to the vulnerable state in which Ted had been found, the court was told. The court heard evidence indicating that the details of Ted’s presentation when he was found were precisely the kind of information which would allow custody officers to assess and take steps to manage risk to a person in Ted’s circumstances, and which Suffolk Police expect its officers to pass to the custody team for the purpose of risk assessment. 

 

Further, Ted’s legal representative at the police station was aware of the pertinent information about his presentation when the police found him, but his legal representative failed to raise any concerns about it, and the officer who interviewed Ted also failed to tell custody officers about it. The coroner found that had the custody team been told the pertinent information, it is likely that he would have been seen by a custody nurse. Because that did not happen it is not possible to know what the outcome of any such consultation with a custody nurse would have been. 

 

Ted spoke with his mother Susan Farmer on 2 January but did not mention his arrest. In a pen portrait read to the court, Susan said Ted had called her on 4 January to say he was sorry and that he loved her. She said she thought it related to him not being home over new year as it was the first time Ted had spent the celebration away from his family.

 

On 5 January, Susan and Ted’s father Andrew received a letter notifying them that Ted’s car had been impounded. It was the first they knew about what had happened to their son on New Year’s Eve and after they could not contact him, reported him missing on that evening.

A police officer attended their home and was with Susan and Andrew when they were able to contact one of Ted’s friends who told them about the car being driven into a ditch. The officer had been aware of the incident and the arrest but had not told Ted’s parents “for confidentiality reasons" the court heard.

 

After the officer left, a British Transport Police officer arrived at the family home to inform Susan and Andrew of Ted’s death.

 

In her statement read to the court, Susan told the coroner that Ted had been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder when he was aged 13. She said: “When he is in a panic you can almost hear his mind” and in her statement told the coroner that when Ted had been arrested, there should have been some understanding from the arresting officer that he was young. She said there should have been a medical or welfare check-up at the police station. She said she felt if police had taken Ted to hospital or had an ambulance been called to the scene, then Ted would still be alive today.

 

Susan said she believed the arresting officer put his own assumptions and beliefs before the safety of Ted and if police had followed what they should have done, then Ted would still be here.

 

Summing up, the coroner said if the circumstances in which Ted was found had been raised with the custody team, it is likely that Ted would have been seen by a custody nurse. Because those events did not happen, it is not possible to know what the outcome of any such consultation with a custody nurse might have been.

 

 

“Our son was traumatised by the events of New Year’s Eve 2022, this must have been clear to the police officers who found him. Yet they appear to have ignored his terror and his highly vulnerable state. He was only 19 years old, all young people make mistakes as they are learning to navigate life and enjoy adulthood. But the police officers showed no humanity towards him despite obvious signs of his fragile mental state. They didn’t even tell the custody officer about the state they found him.

 

“We firmly believe that if those officers had shown an ounce of humanity, if a welfare check had been made and an ambulance was called, we would still have our Ted with us today.

 

“It is hard to explain the void that the loss of Ted has left in our lives. We were a big happy family but without my beautiful boy we are struggling to piece our lives back together.

 

“Ted was charming, clever, kind, loveable and had the best future ahead of him. We are distraught to think that his hope in life had been lost and that the only way forward was not to live. Our family will never be the same again.”

 

 

“The inquest heard that Ted’s family believe he was failed by the police on the night of his arrest and if he hadn’t been failed, he would still be alive today.

 

“Ted was just 19 years old, it was the first time he had been arrested, he had never been inside a police station in his life. 

 

“The coroner concluded that it is likely that Ted would have been seen by a custody nurse but that it is not possible to know what the outcome of any such consultation might have been. His family will have to live with that uncertainty for the rest of their lives.”

 

Yvonne Kestler instructed Paul Clark of Garden Court Chambers.