Two Nottinghamshire Police officers face allegations of gross misconduct following an incident in which a grandmother from St Ann’s was threatened with being “cut up and put in the bin.” The officers, PC Thomas Lee-Storey and former PC Amy Jowett, have been accused of failing to properly investigate or safeguard the woman after she reported the threat, which instead resulted in her granddaughter being charged and placed into local authority care.
The episode occurred on the evening of October 29, 2024, when the granddaughter initially contacted police, issuing threats to kill her grandmother. During the following hour, several hoax calls were made from the granddaughter’s number to emergency services, including false reports of a fire at the grandmother’s home and fabricated domestic abuse claims involving the grandmother’s husband.
Despite the serious nature of the threats, PC Lee-Storey and PC Jowett, who were dispatched from West Bridgford police station, reportedly spent just 11 minutes at the grandmother’s residence. Body-worn camera footage played during a misconduct hearing revealed that the officers asked limited questions and did not document any crime reports or concerns expressed by the victim. The grandmother told officers that the granddaughter’s threatening phone calls were linked to a previous family dispute and disclosed that PC Molly Mason at St Ann’s station was already handling the case.
The footage further captured the grandmother stating her granddaughter had threatened to harm her on December 17, after a legal order protecting vulnerable adults would expire. Nonetheless, the officers left the property quickly, with PC Lee-Storey telling her: “I don’t think there’s necessarily any offences this time. We’ll leave you to it. If it does continue, just report it to us.” PC Jowett added advice not to “egg on” the granddaughter by responding to her calls.
Representing Nottinghamshire Police at the hearing, Ian Mullarkey described the officers’ response as an “astonishing” display of indifference, calling it a “serious dereliction of duty.” He said the failure to act appropriately in response to a clear threat amounted to gross misconduct. In contrast, PC Lee-Storey testified that the officers had initially been misinformed that the woman’s grandson was forcibly attempting to enter the home, a claim later proven false. He also stated that the grandmother seemed reluctant to provide information due to prior involvement with PC Mason, and that distractions from other incidents affected his response.
PC Lee-Storey acknowledged that, in retrospect, a harassment case could have been pursued if the officers had fully understood the situation at the time. PC Mason subsequently visited the grandmother, took a witness statement, and issued a protection notice to safeguard her. She also raised concerns about the initial police visit, prompting tension with PC Lee-Storey, who later accused the victim of being untruthful.
The misconduct hearing, which began Thursday, is scheduled to continue for two more days before a final determination is made on whether the officers’ actions breached professional standards and undermined public confidence in policing.