Family told to call locksmith over mental health fears

The police watchdog has criticised a force after call handlers told a family raising mental health concerns to ring a locksmith.

On 6 August 2025, Hobie Harrison's parents called Norfolk Police to request a welfare check after he failed to respond to them. He was found dead the next day.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the force's 101 call handlers should have referred the family to mental health services, but instead suggested they contacted a locksmith.

Norfolk Police said it was reviewing the findings and it had been following the force's Right Care, Right Person (RCRP) policy , external , which limits officer attendance at welfare calls to cases involving "immediate risk to life".

The IOPC said the call handlers should have asked more probing questions to assess Hobie's level of risk and there should have been a better explanation to his parents about why officers were not sent under its RCRP guidelines.

Hobie's parents, Mark and Roberta Harrison, made a second request for a welfare check for their son to Norfolk Police the following day. Officers attended and found the 30-year-old dead in his flat in Norwich.

In October 2025, the family made a complaint to Norfolk Police over its handling of their call.

In its report, the IOPC criticised Norfolk Police's response to that complaint after the force told the parents officers should not have attended either call, including the second one that led to Hobie's body being found.