Multiple breaches in police care of teenager who was later killed in collision

There were multiple breaches by PSNI officers in the duty of care offered to a vulnerable teenager who was later knocked down and killed in County Antrim in 2018, a Police Ombudsman investigation has found.

The office of the ombudsman has recommended a new policy is put in place between the force and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) to deal with people who are intoxicated and refuse medical treatment.

Shannon McQuillan, a 19-year-old law student, and her 21-year-old boyfriend, Owen McFerran, were both hit by a van after three PSNI officers, a NIAS paramedic and a trainee emergency technician left them alone at a bus shelter on the Moneynick Road in Magherafelt in the early hours of January 20, 2018.

Ms McQuillan was killed and Mr McFerran sustained life-changing injuries in the collision which occurred at 3.40am.

The ombudsman investigation found that the NIAS and PSNI had first encountered Ms McQuillan and Mr McFerran at 2am in a car park in Magherafelt, where Ms McQuillan was found to be unconscious after falling a number of times.

After a telephone call was made to Ms McQuillan’s mother by police, advising that her daughter and boyfriend were being taken to Antrim Area Hospital, officers left them in the care of two ambulance staff.

However, the same officers were called back to the car park by ambulance personnel after Ms McQuillan’s behaviour became erratic, the ombudsman investigation said.

Following a discussion between Ms McQuillan, ambulance staff and police, it was agreed officers would follow the ambulance to a roundabout in Magherafelt to ensure it proceeded to hospital.

Shortly before 3am, the ambulance pulled into a bus layby on the Moneynick Road, and staff onboard called for police assistance again following concerns about Ms McQuillan’s behaviour.

Two different police officers to those who attended earlier arrived at the layby at 3am while a third, who was more senior and operating in a supervisory capacity, attended minutes later.

Following a discussion between the medical team and PSNI officers, the couple got out of the ambulance and were left, alone, at a bus shelter on the Moneynick Road.

At 3.38am the police received the first of three phone calls about two people walking in the middle of the Moneynick Road and two minutes later a motorist informed police he had collided with two people on the same road.

Police attended along with other emergency services, but Ms McQuillan died at the scene while Mr McFerran was taken to hospital in a critical condition.

Subsequent tests established that both had high levels of alcohol in their blood at the time.

Ombudsman investigators highlighted this was significant information when it came to how officers assessed the vulnerability and risk of Ms McQuillan and Mr McFerran.

The Police Ombudsman investigation found that Ms McQuillan had fallen and hit her head a number of times before she came into contact with police and ambulance personnel in Magherafelt and also had visible injuries to her leg.

The two ambulance staff told ombudsman investigators that they had stopped their vehicle in the layby and asked for police assistance because Ms McQuillan had become aggressive towards them and Mr McFerran, and had also tried to harm herself.

The investigation said the accounts of police and NIAS staff who attended at the Moneynick Road were found to be inconsistent.

The ombudsman concluded that the communication between the police officers in attendance at the Moneynick Road and the NIAS staff had been “wholly inadequate”.

This also led to a separate PSNI investigation into the conduct of NIAS staff.

A police file was submitted to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) but it decided that no criminal charges should be brought against any of the paramedics at the scene.

The ombudsman investigation found that there had been “multiple breaches in the duty of care offered” to Ms McQuillan and Mr McFerran by police officers.

These included failing to complete even the most basic checks in relation to them, failing to recognise the vulnerability and risks of leaving the two alone together beside a road and failing to safeguard the couple’s welfare.

The Police Ombudsman’s Office submitted a file to the PPS relating to the three police officers who attended at Moneynick Road for the potential offences of gross negligence manslaughter and misconduct in public office.

The PPS directed that none of the police officers should be prosecuted.

Ms McQuillan’s family requested a review of this decision and in January 2021, the PPS advised the Police Ombudsman that the outcome was no prosecution.

Subsequent PSNI misconduct proceedings found that the conduct of two of the three officers who had attended the ambulance amounted to gross misconduct.

One was dismissed from the PSNI, the other was given a written warning. The dismissal was set aside on appeal, but the officer died before a new hearing could be held.

A third officer was disciplined for failing to submit and retain her own original signed statement about the incident, while another officer who amended the statement and failed to ensure that the original was kept, was given advice to improve her conduct.

The ombudsman also recommended that a new policy be put in place between the PSNI and NIAS for dealing with people who are intoxicated and refuse medical treatment.

The Police Ombudsman’s Chief Executive, Hugh Hume, said: “More should have been done in this case to protect the extremely vulnerable young woman and man from harm.

“The police response was wholly inadequate, and a police misconduct panel supported the ombudsman’s evidence that there had been a failure of professional duty.

“Safeguarding vulnerable people in an operational environment is an important and frequent role for first responders. Ineffective or ill-informed decisions can, as in this case, have dreadful and far-reaching consequences.

“It is therefore essential that police officers and all frontline partners work together smoothly and efficiently to minimise the risk to those whose judgment and health appears impaired.”

Mr Hume added: “This tragic case therefore demonstrates the absolute need for effective and well understood joint protocols between the PSNI and the NIAS to deal with such circumstances.

“Frontline staff must recognise their collective professional duty of care, and they should be supported in their responsibilities by agreed inter-agency professional practice.”