A REVIEW of how police assess the suicide risk of people suspected of child sex offences will be carried out after a man was found dead following threats to kill himself when he was arrested.

Recommendations to Essex Police have been made by the Indepedent Office for Police Conduct following an investigation.

Officers arrested a man on suspicion of possession of indecent images of children in January last year.

He said he would kill himself while officers were at his home and the information was passed on to the custody sergeant when he arrived at the police station.

While he was there, the man was was seen by a specialist psychiatric practitioner, who assessed the was not at imminent risk of self-harm.

The man was released from custody the following day and the officer in charge of the case kept him updated about the progress of the case.

However, the suspect failed to appear to answer bail in March and the man’s solicitor told the police he had said he couldn’t afford the cost of the journey to the police station.

Two days later, the man was found dead at home.

IOPC investigators found no police officer had behaved in a way which would justify disciplinary proceedings.

But Essex Police have been asked to review procedures relating to these types of cases.

A spokesman for the IOPC said: “We suggested Essex Police may wish to consider reviewing their procedures to increase officers’ awareness of the suicide risk to people suspected of having indecent images of children and child sexual exploitation offenders in the first 48 hours of contact after police intervention.

“Essex Police may also wish to consider whether guidance on trigger dates such as charging and court appearances should be integrated into local procedures.

“Both are in line with the National Police Chiefs’ Council interim guidance on suicide prevention risk management specific to perpetrators of child sexual exploitation and indecent images of children.”

The force have told the IOPC they will use the National Police Chiefs’ Council guidance to inform a review of procedures into suicide risk management and internal communication in such matters.

Case findings will be shared with the police’s learning board.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: "Procedures are in place and guidance provided to officers dealing with people who have been arrested and may pose a risk of suicide or self-harm.

"These include detailed risk assessments which, depending on outcome, will inform what further action may be necessary in an attempt to provide support and minimise those risks.

"However we continually review our policies and procedures to ensure we act on any learning where appropriate and the IOPC investigation highlighted NPCC guidance relating to flashpoints, i.e. those occasions when risks can be heightened, as such these have been taken into account as part of the review.

"Having considered the findings of the IOPC investigation Essex Police were of the view that it had identified good practice in the form of officers decision making, actions taken and record keeping, as well as highlighting the importance of information sharing between agencies.

"As such the findings were shared with the relevant Commands in order that appropriate feedback could be provided to those officers involved and also more widely to those officers and staff dealing with similar cases as an example of that good practice as well as highlighting the learning identified."