Report finds police called at wrong address

18-year-old Xing Ding is believed to have rung 999 from her mobile phone.

The IPCC report found that insufficient checks were carried out to establish where she was calling from. As a result police were dispatched within 20 minutes, but to the wrong address.

IPCC Commissioner Amerdeep Somal said: "Screaming on an abandoned 999 call should elicit an immediate police response. Had police used more detailed checks and a mapping system available to them, the need for a subscriber check would have been established; the correct address in Pioneer Close would have been identified and in all likelihood attended by officers within minutes.”

Later that afternoon the incident was downgraded to a ‘scheduled appointment’, meaning the address could be visited in a slower time. Just after 5pm the incident was closed entirely.

The IPCC said that the call was prematurely closed without establishing the welfare of the caller, and that the police had handled the call in an unacceptable manner. It said the supervisor involved could face misconduct proceedings as the incident had been closed without enough information or proper risk assessment.

The report found that the call handler involved was not sufficiently trained. They have since taken voluntary redundancy from Northamptonshire Police.