Police rapped over 999 call-out failures

One family was trapped in their takeaway restaurant in Edinburgh for 90 minutes by an angry mob hurling racist abuse and armed with bottles, bats and bricks.

But although the family made ten emergency calls, officers from Lothian and Borders Police failed to come to their rescue and they were even told: "Don't call again."

In the second incident, a family had to barricade themselves inside their Glasgow home after a man armed with a knife and hammer terrorised them in the middle of the night.

Despite them making repeated 999 calls, it took officers from Strathclyde Police 17 minutes to arrive at the scene.

Both forces have been criticised by the Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland.

Professor John McNeill has recommended Lothian and Borders Police explain what went wrong when officers failed to respond. He has also recommended that Strathclyde Police apologise to the Glasgow family for the length of time it took to respond to their calls.

Both forces said they would be writing to the families, but did not say whether that would include an apology.

MSPs last night expressed alarm at the police failures, with Conservative justice spokesman John Lamont saying this was "yet another example of the victims of crime not having their voices heard".

Labour last night insisted that "lessons must be learnt" from the incidents and called on the forces involved to make sure the failures are never repeated.

The Lothian and Borders force has been criticised by Prof McNeill for its response to the incident at the Hong Kong Express Takeaway in Sighthill, Edinburgh.

Owner Jing Guo was forced to lock himself, his wife and two workers inside his restaurant for an hour and a half, after a gang of 20 men targeted them because Mr Guo's delivery driver responded angrily to one of the group smashing the windscreen of his car.

The gang were armed with baseball bats, snooker cues and golf clubs, and were outside throwing bottles, hurling racist abuse, screaming that they "wanted blood".

• In case of emergency: 999 call priorities

Mr Guo made ten 999 calls over a 90-minute period to the force and operators told Mr Guo that "someone was on their way", but nobody turned up.

In the final call, he was told: "I am aware of your situation. Don't call again."

The family eventually made their way to safety after the crowd dispersed, but Mr Guo said they had been left "scared for their lives".

The Edinburgh case was brought to the commissioner by a member of the local community council, who was dissatisfied at the response by Lothian and Borders Police following a complaint by the restaurant owner.Prof McNeill said Lothian and Borders' response to the incident was "not reasonable", and they did not explain what had gone wrong or what steps had been take to prevent a similar situation occurring in the future.

He has asked the force to provide this information.

Mr Guo, 53, who had owned the takeaway for eight years, said he was left angry that "no-one bothered to turn up".

He said: "We were petrified. We were scared for our lives. After one hour we had made ten calls and still no police. The last operator told us not to call again.

"Just after midnight, we decided to try and leave ourselves. We just had to hope that they had all gone. We managed to get out and into cars.

"My anger is that after ten 999 calls, no-one bothered to turn up and help us. If I hadn't seen the men in time and shut the gate, there could've been a fatality."

Lothian and Borders Police said they "deeply regret" the circumstances of the incident.

A spokeswoman said the force noted the comments of the commissioner regarding the incident on 18 May, 2009, and said the complainer would be receiving a letter from the force.

She added: "Following the incident to which this complaint refers, a detailed inquiry was carried out in consultation with the individuals involved.

"They subsequently indicated they considered the matter closed and were satisfied with the action taken by the force.

"At that time, the force reviewed its call handling procedures and five members of staff were given corrective advice."

In another report Prof McNeill recommends that Strathclyde Police apologise to a family for the length of time it took to respond to their calls for help. The calls were made following an argument at the house, during which a man was slashed across the face with a knife.

Police records show the family made three 999 calls to the police at 4:04am and twice in the space of one minute at 4:18am, as the alleged attacker tried to force his way back into the house armed with knives and hammers.

The family used furniture to barricade the doorway to prevent him reaching those inside, including a teenage girl.

The contact centre wrongly classed the call as Priority 3 and the police took 17 minutes to attend. It was the second time that evening that calls had been made to the police from that address.

The commissioner's report concludes that a thorough investigation by Strathclyde Police was let down by the brief, unsatis- factory response issued to the complainer.

The complainer was not informed of the error made by the contact centre regarding the priority grading of her call, nor was she told of the outcome of a review by the contact centre.As a result the commissioner has called on the force to apologise and provide this information.

Chief Superintendent Val McIntyre, of Strathclyde Police's professional standards department, said: "Strathclyde Police will examine the recommendations issued by the commissioner to establish whether there are any organisational learning points relating to the quality of service provided to the applicant and more widely to the many communities that we serve.

"A further response will be provided to the applicant on completion of inquiries conducted into this matter."

Tory MSP Mr Lamont said the failure to respond to these incidents was "not acceptable".

He added: "The number of calls in the Edinburgh case indicates how terrified the victim must have been. To be ignored when facing this sort of threat must have been horrendous."

He added: "These are examples of a wider problem within the justice system as a whole, where the voices of victims of crime are not heard."

Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker said: "These are both very serious incidents and it is important that lessons are learnt by the two forces involved."