Family told to call locksmith over mental health fears

Norfolk Police were criticised after a family’s request for a welfare check on their 30‑year‑old son, Hobie Harrison, was dismissed and the callers were advised to contact a locksmith. On 6 August 2025 Hobie’s parents, Mark and Roberta Harrison, called the force because he had not responded to them for more than 24 hours, despite normally speaking several times a day. The call handlers, after consulting a supervisor, concluded the situation did not meet the threshold for police attendance under the force’s Right Care, Right Person (RCRP) policy and suggested the family seek a locksmith to gain entry to Hobie’s locked flat in Norwich. The following morning a second call was made; officers attended and discovered Hobie dead in his flat. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found that the 101 call handlers should have referred the family to mental‑health services, asked more probing questions about risk, and provided a clearer explanation of why officers were not dispatched under RCRP guidelines.

The IOPC’s investigation highlighted that the RCRP policy, adopted by Norfolk Police in 2024 to limit officer involvement in welfare and mental‑health incidents, may have been misinterpreted, leaving a vulnerable individual without appropriate support. Hobie, who suffered from schizophrenia and developmental trauma and was under the care of the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust Community Mental Health Team, had a known history of self‑harm and suicidal threats. The watchdog expressed concern that the force did not fully appreciate the risks inherent in the policy, noting similar shortcomings in other cases such as the deaths of Sophie Cotton, Paul Alexander and Andrew Hughes, where mental‑health teams were unable to access locked premises. The IOPC’s director of oversight and casework, David Ford, warned that the force’s handling of the complaint—telling the parents that officers should not have attended either call—underscored a broader issue with RCRP’s implementation.

In response, Norfolk Police said it would review the findings and examine organisational learning, while refraining from further comment pending an inquest scheduled for November. The force cited reductions in officer attendance at welfare calls since the policy’s introduction, but acknowledged there is no defined response pathway and that responsibility may fall to health, social care, ambulance or police services depending on circumstances. The case has reignited debate over RCRP’s effectiveness, with coroners and national agreements urging that people in mental‑health crises must not be left without support, and prompting calls for clearer protocols when locked premises prevent immediate access by mental‑health teams.

⚡ Effects Interpreter