IOPC apology to Wolverhampton family after decision letter sent to wrong address

In a statement the watchdog said it had "apologised sincerely" to the family of Kishni Mahay for the mistake, while a meeting is due to be held with senior officials and the family this month.

Mrs Mahay died after she was struck, in Cannock Road in Wolverhampton in 1989.

An investigation by police into the death of the 64-year-old concluded that she ran out into the road and her death was ruled as accidental.

Her son Raj is behind a long-running campaign for a fresh inquiry to be carried out and three years ago launched an online petition calling for an independent review.

West Midlands Police then lodged a request to the IOPC for the complaint to be "disapplied" meaning it was no longer valid. This was granted by the IOPC which then wrote to inform Mr Mahay of its decision in 2019, but the letter was incorrectly addressed and as a result delivered to the wrong property.

Mr Mahay, of Douglas Place, Oxley, said: "We have been persistently trying to get answers from West Midlands Police and the IOPC who have not given us satisfactory answers.

"We don't understand why. No-one seems to have been reviewing anything. The force is being allowed to treat it as a local inquiry and this is the result. They have completely ignored us and submitted a disapplication.

"There has been no closure for us. We are just being fobbed off. No-one wants to know.

"There have been issues every step of the way. It's not just the decision letter being sent to the wrong address in my street, but it's things like people's names being misspelt in communications sent to us which makes you wonder.

"They even got the name of my MP wrong. If they can't get details right by checking facts, how can they be trusted to investigate anything?

"It's nothing short of a disgrace, no justice at all - and they are meant to be independent of the police?"

An IOPC statement said: “In 2019 we handled an application from West Midlands Police to disapply a complaint relating to the fatal road traffic incident in 1989. We granted this disapplication as it was not reasonably practicable to continue an investigation, due to the significant time that has lapsed between the initial incident occurring and the complaint being made.

“The complainant in this case contacted us this month and we then became aware that we sent our decision letter in 2019 to the wrong address. We have apologised sincerely to the complainant for this error and for any distress caused to them and their family. An extension to the normal time limit in bringing judicial review proceedings can be sought from the courts.”

Midlands Regional IOPC chief Derrick Campbell is due to meet Mr Mahay on November 29. The family's case has also been taken up by Wolverhampton South West MP Stuart Anderson.

A post mortem examination of Mrs Mahay, who lived in Powell Street, Park Village, found cirrhosis of the liver caused by alcohol abuse.

But Mr Mahay said this was wrong, adding the condition was caused by medication for tuberculosis.

At the inquest, the driver of the police car said he first spotted Mrs Mahay in the road when she was just a few feet in front of him. He swerved violently to the right, but was unable to avoid the collision, he said.

The car was being driven at about 50mph with siren and blue flashing lights on, the inquest heard. No action was taken against the driver.