'I've felt traumatised and tormented by what has happened': Mother of Liberty Charris lodges complaint over police handling of her daughter's death in Oldbury
The mother of Liberty Charris has spoken about the treatment she feels she has continued to receive from police as she lodged a formal complaint into the handling of her daughter's death.
Tracy Challis has lodged the complaint to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after feeling that she had been let down at every level by West Midlands Police in their handling of the investigation into Liberty's death.
Ms Challis said she felt the police had a big responsibility for what had happened on the night and had not done enough to intervene or manage the event and spoke of her anger at the treatment she felt she had received.
She said: "I hold the police responsible for what happened that night because they had had reports in from 9.30pm about what was going on, but they didn't intervene and only sent one car out, when then, according to the police, they turned around to me and said 'you don't know how dangerous it was that night' and I need to see the logs to realise the danger they were in.
"I responded by saying that they were not only telling me that they didn't protect the public, they weren't safeguarding their officers either, and I found out that they'd got one car at the scene at 11.38pm, which was there to monitor the event.
"However, I was then told by another person that they were there to stop the event from Operation Hercules, so I think they've got a massive responsibility for what happened because they've allowed it to go ahead as I've seen the flashing lights in the background on video in court and they were just sitting ducks.
"The experience we've had with the police has been diabolical and I've felt traumatised and tormented by it as they've told me things like it being a two tier system and made up excuses for what's happened."
Ms Challis said that one incident had seen a force menopause lead contact her following the completion of her complaint, an incident she said had felt like a joke at her expense.
She also spoke about how she had been told that Liberty had died on impact, but then heard in court that her daughter was still breathing when officers had reached her.
She said: "We got a knock on the door at 1.20am and were told that Liberty was dead on impact and there was absolutely nothing that could be done, so she'd been taken to Sandwell hospital and there was no medical intervention.
"These were the words going in my head the whole time and I've been born and brought up to believe the police and believe everything that they were telling me at the time, but I know that Damian Corfield had gone straight to the scene.
"We were told that she had been taken to Sandwell hospital and we wouldn't be able to see her, but the truth was that she was still uncovered on the pavement at 3am and then we found out off Damian about eight weeks later.
"Two years post-impact in court, we were told that that she was breathing and police had arrived at the scene and they were doing CPR until paramedics arrived about nine minutes post-impact, so this little peace that we'd sort of had that she had died instantly had suddenly been taken away from us."
Ms Challis’ complaint also criticised the conduct of the Family Liaison Officers (FLO) who were assigned to support Liberty’s family following her death and the information which West Midlands Police shared with members of the press following the incident.
This included a date of death being recorded as the wrong date, with Ms Challis claiming the FLO had said that "In the grand scheme of things, the date doesn't really matter".
Ms Challis said the complaint was about ensuring that no family had to go through what she and her family had and ensure that there was more accountability in the future.
She said: "As Liberty's mum, and on behalf of her and her family, I've submitted this complaint because of the catastrophic failure that led to the death of my daughter and everything that followed that has destroyed us.
"Our grief hasn't just stayed, it has deepened into something I would not wish on any single human being.
"I need people to understand that this is only a tiny fraction of my complaint and it doesn't even begin to cover the depth of the failures and the pain, so I will take this now to the highest level I possibly can, because what happened to Liberty and to us cannot ever happen to another family.
"The system must change, the law, the policing, the accountability, the honesty, all of it, so I'm doing this for Liberty and for everyone who deserves truth, respect and protection when their whole world is taken from them."
A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “Our thoughts remain with Liberty’s loved ones after her tragic death in 2022.
“We've received a complaint into our Professional Standards Department, and this will be referred to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC).”
A spokesman for the IOPC said: “All complaints must first be received and assessed by the relevant force, and a decision is then made as to whether a referral to the IOPC is required, in line with our referral criteria.
“We have not received a referral at this time, but if we do, we will then carry out an assessment to decide what further action is required by us.”
