Norfolk Police Criticised After Telling Parents Worried About Son to Call a Locksmith

A police watchdog has issued sharp criticism of Norfolk Police after call handlers advised a worried family to contact a locksmith rather than send officers to check on their adult son, who was found dead the following day.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) concluded that the force's 101 call handlers ought to have directed Hobie Harrison's parents towards mental health services when they raised concerns about him. Instead, the family was told to consider hiring a locksmith to get into his flat.

Hobie Harrison, who was 30 years old, died in his home in Norwich. His parents, Mark and Roberta Harrison, had contacted Norfolk Police on 6 August 2025 to request a welfare check after their son stopped responding to them. He was discovered dead the next day.

According to the IOPC, the call handlers failed to ask sufficiently probing questions that would have allowed them to properly assess the level of risk Hobie faced. The watchdog also found that the family was not given an adequate explanation of why officers would not be dispatched under the force's Right Care, Right Person (RCRP) policy.

That policy, which Norfolk Police said it had been following, restricts when officers attend welfare calls to situations involving what it describes as an "immediate risk to life". Under the approach, police are expected to step back from certain mental health-related incidents and hand responsibility to health and social care partners.

Hobie's parents made a second request for a welfare check the following day. On that occasion, officers did attend and found the 30-year-old dead in his flat. The IOPC later criticised the force's response to the family's October 2025 complaint, after Norfolk Police told the parents that officers should not have attended either call, including the second one that led to the discovery of their son's body. The watchdog described that reply as "unnecessary and insensitive".

Hobie had previously made threats to take his own life. His father, Mark, expressed the anguish of not knowing whether earlier intervention could have made a difference. He said the family would never know whether their son was still alive when they first called, or whether something could have been done to help him. He acknowledged that Hobie might already have died by that point, but said the uncertainty would remain with them.

The IOPC's findings raised broader concerns that Norfolk Police may not fully grasp the risks associated with the RCRP policy. David Ford, the watchdog's director of oversight and casework, said concerns had been raised with the force about how it interprets RCRP and how it monitors the initiative. As a result, he said, the force has committed to carrying out a review to examine whether there are any organisational learnings to be drawn from the case.

Norfolk Police said it could not comment further because an inquest into Hobie's death has not yet taken place. The inquest is scheduled for November.

Hobie had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and developmental trauma, and he was under the care of the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust Community Mental Health Team. His parents said he also had a history of drug use. The couple adopted Hobie when he was a child, and they recalled that he had seemed to be in good spirits the last time they saw him before his death.

In August 2025, the family grew concerned because Hobie had not spoken to them for more than 24 hours. This was highly unusual, they said, because he normally got in touch several times a day. Roberta Harrison described the silence as something that simply did not happen, making it very out of the ordinary and a clear warning sign.

The couple went to their son's flat but found they could not use their key to get inside, because his key was still in the lock on the inside of the door. Mark Harrison said they were completely certain Hobie was inside and that he was not responding, so they knew something was seriously wrong.

Unable to break in, they called Norfolk Police and told the call handlers that their son had a history of self-harm and suicidal threats. After the staff member consulted a supervisor, the family was told the situation did not meet the threshold for a police response and was advised to consider contacting a locksmith.

Roberta Harrison said the advice left them unsure how to make a decision or what to do. The family has said they felt lost about where to turn after being told their concerns did not meet the threshold for police action.

The case highlights the difficult questions surrounding the RCRP approach, which was introduced to reduce the demands placed on police officers and to ensure that people in mental health crisis receive support from the most appropriate services. Critics argue that such policies can leave families without clear guidance at moments of acute danger, particularly when a person's history suggests a real risk of self-harm. Supporters say the model is necessary because police are not trained mental health professionals and that health services must take the lead.

The IOPC's intervention suggests that, in this instance at least, the safeguards meant to make the policy work did not function as intended. The watchdog's concern about Norfolk Police's understanding and monitoring of RCRP points to a possible gap between the policy on paper and its application on the ground.

For Hobie's parents, the outcome has left them with questions that may never be answered. The inquest due in November is expected to examine the circumstances of his death in more detail, including the decisions taken by the police and mental health services in the days before he was found.