The mother of a 19-year-old whose body was found two weeks after he went missing has issued an apology from the… metropolitan police†
Proof Joel said she was “fired” by officers “at the darkest time of my life” after reporting the disappearance of Richard Okorogheye.
Richard, who had sickle cell anemia and had protected himself as a vulnerable adult, went missing from his home in West London on March 22, 2021.
The doting son was last seen on CCTV walking towards Epping Forest in Essex. His body was found on April 5 at the beauty spot, 20 miles from his family home in Ladbroke Grove.
Mrs. Joel had made several attempts to inform the police that the bright Oxford student Brookes had a sickle cell and had left his house without his medicines.
She spoke of her “deep regret” after an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation into his disappearance was completed.
The watchdog found that officers generally provided an unacceptable level of service to Richard’s mother when she reported him missing and that the police had to apologise. The Met said today it wanted to “apologise for the distress caused by the subpar level of service,” which was “not at a level the public would expect from us.”
Ms Joel told Metro.co.uk: ‘The IOPC investigation has shown that the police have failed, but there is no accountability or disciplinary process in place yet.
“After the traumatic events and the way I was treated when I reported my dear son missing, he is sadly no longer with us, all the police could do is apologise. But the apology is not accepted.
“When I reported Richard missing, it wasn’t taken seriously. Obviously a lot has failed, but something has to be done about it, a lesson has to be learned so that it doesn’t happen to another family in the future. Those people must be held accountable and held accountable for what they have done.’
Ms Joel, 40, told Metro.co.uk that an officer had asked her: ‘If you can’t find your son, how do you expect us to find him?’
“It made me feel terrible,” she said. “They have completely abandoned me, my family and Richard. We can’t get Richard back, but something has to change. I don’t want other people to go through what I went through, what my family went through. Regardless of your race or where you come from, miss should be missing. If you report a child or loved one as missing, you have to take it seriously.’
Ms Joel also spoke today through the law firm that represents her.
She said: ‘The IOPC investigation has confirmed what I always knew: at the darkest period of my life, I was fired by multiple Metropolitan Police officers at all levels of seniority and my son’s disappearance was not taken seriously. I deeply regret that despite the conclusion by both the IOPC and the Metropolitan Police that the performance of three police officers, including an inspector, and three switchboard operators was not up to the expected standard, no one is faced with misconduct. Therefore the apology is not accepted.’
Tara Mulcair of Birnberg Peirce solicitors, who represents Ms Joel, said: “It is regrettable that the Metropolitan Police have decided to apologize to Ms Joel now, almost 16 months after his disappearance and only following a recommendation from the IOPC.”
Mrs Joël has previously spoken to Metro.co.uk for our State of Racism series on how the police reacted when she tried to raise the alarm and described how her son was not treated as a high priority.
The nurse said she experienced a ‘rejective’ attitude from the police when she tried to report him missing over the course of two days and racing hampered the way the case was being handled. Richard was a freshman on the Computer Science for Cyber Security program, he was close to his mother and had no criminal record.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Bas Javid, responding to the IOPC inquiry, said: “Our thoughts are with Richard’s family and I would like to apologize for the distress caused by the subpar level of service, as highlighted by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
“Clearly, the service we rendered in the days following Richard’s disappearance was not up to the standard the public would expect from us, including that Richard was not classified as missing in action; its risk of not being topped up sooner; communication with his mother was not as informative and accurate as she could have been and unfortunately an insensitive and inappropriate comment from one of our officers.
“We will address these issues directly with the officers and staff involved through additional enhanced training.
“We recognize how distressing it must be to not know where a loved one is, and we challenge ourselves to be more responsive when someone reports a missing person.
“To help us improve, we work with partners, such as the Missing People charity, to understand and learn from the experiences of different communities in London.
“We’re also introducing a new way to review all of the missing reports we receive on a daily basis.”
The IOPC thought that six Met employees, three officers and three members of the police force should be given reflective practice.
The Met said this will be delivered through improved training for those officers and staff and none of the employees appeared to have a case to answer for wrongdoing.
The apology follows the force be placed in special measures last week after Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Marechaussee and Fire & Rescue Services found that it was failing on a number of fronts.
An inquest into Richard’s death will take place next year.
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