Report slams Derbyshire police bail procedure after death of student

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has severely criticised Derbyshire Police over their past bail procedures following a complaint by the family of Jagdip Randhawa – who died after being punched by a boxer who was on bail for a previous serious assault.

Jagdip, a 19-year-old student, was assaulted by professional boxer Clifton Ty Mitchell in 2011. At the time, Mitchell was in breach of bail conditions to which he was subject as a result of his alleged involvement in a previous violent attack. Jagdip died five days later.

The force had strongly argued against him being granted bail, stating that “the defendant has shown that he has a history of committing violent offences and a total disregard to any orders imposed by the courts”. However they then failed to seek revocation of his bail, despite repeated breaches.

In a report published today (Friday 14 July), the IPCC has upheld the family’s complaint about the police’s failure to manage Mitchell’s bail – and said a now retired officer has a case to answer for misconduct over his handling of the family’s complaint.

After Jagdip’s death, the police told his family Mitchell had breached bail on seven previous occasions – but the IPCC now says there were at least 24 breaches in the preceding five months. Records of potential previous breaches have been lost by the police.

The IPCC’s report described Derbyshire Police’s 2011 bail procedure as “fundamentally flawed” and “not fit”. It said the process was “so flawed that none of the staff operating under it appeared to recognise the ongoing issues with this one individual and see the obvious opportunities missed”.

Deputy Chief Constable of Derbyshire police, Gary Knighton, said the force accepts the IPCC’s recommendations and has already changed its procedures.

He said: “The IPCC report recognises that, following the death of Mr Randhawa, we immediately reviewed the way that the force handled breaches of bail conditions where an individual is required to report to a police station.

“The force now has a more robust system in place to deal with a suspect who has failed to comply with their bail conditions. If someone breaches their bail, an officer is allocated to take action and deal with the breach.”