Matthew Mackell: Kent Police 'missed opportunity' to reach suicidal teen
BBC News Published image captionMatthew Mackell's call for help came from an area with a 2.5-mile radius, an inquest heard A systemic failure led to police not sending officers to help a teenager who rang 999 and said he was about to take his own life, a coroner has ruled. Matthew Mackell, 17, was found dead in a Tunbridge Wells park in May 2020. He asked Kent Police to send somebody to "pick me up", but refused to give his name or location, an inquest heard. A call handler was unaware they could use a system to pinpoint his location, so the call was downgraded and nobody was sent to search t...