Woman died amid mental health battle after police raided Newcastle home 'in error' and arrested wrong person

Cherry Turner died in the area of Redheugh Bridge on July 1 2022 after her mental health took a downward turn

A woman died amid a mental health battle that had been triggered when police raided her home "in error" and arrested the wrong person, a pre-inquest review heard.

Cherry Turner, 31, died in the area of Redheugh Bridge on July 1 2022 after her mental health took a downward turn. A pre-inquest review heard that her mental health issues only began in December 2021, after Northumbria Police carried out a raid "in error" on her Newcastle home and incorrectly arrested the wrong man - her partner, Craig Jackson.

After the actual suspect was arrested, Mr Jackson was released under investigation, despite no further action eventually being taken against him. While her partner was still under investigation, Cherry developed a fear of police and even thought they were bugging her home, South Tyneside Coroner's Court was told. The hearing heard that before the police raid, Cherry had no reported mental health or physical issues whatsoever.

On Thursday, the hearing heard that a police raid was carried out at the West End home of Cherry and Mr Jackson on December 12 2021 following a "serious offence" in the Newcastle area. Paul Dunn, the solicitor representing Ms Turner's family, said that a number of police officers who were behind the raid "got the wrong man" and mistakenly arrested Mr Jackson instead.

He said: "That seems to have been admitted by Northumbria Police, but only admitted in the context of an investigation. All [officers] concerned...were heavily engaged in attempting to detect those responsible in that crime, but potentially made individual errors in identifying the wrong man."

The pre-inquest review heard that messages were exchanged between officers where they spoke of not getting the right man. Mr Dunn continued: "This was not a routine knock on the door, it was the most intrusive of searches, involving multiple police vehicles, an armed response team, all [with] weapons which were trained on the bodies of Cherry Turner and Craig Jackson. It was a full on search which we now know to have had dire consequences."

Mr Dunn told the hearing that during Mr Jackson's arrest, he was taken outside in his underwear before being taken to a police station. It was not long after that the real suspect was actually found. But even though police had found the correct man, they released Mr Jackson under investigation despite it being "abundantly clear that he was not the suspect in the case."

The pre-inquest review heard that because of this, Cherry "felt [the investigation] was not all over". Mr Dunn added: "Every time she heard a police car, she was expecting the police to come back and that they had potentially bugged her house. No efforts on the part of her family would change her mind."

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The hearing, held in South Shields, heard that despite making the mistake, Northumbria Police or the officers involved did not apologise to the family. The officers involved, which includes intelligence officers, supervising officers and the officer in charge of the case, have not yet provided any witness statements, either, something Mr Dunn said was "appalling".

Senior Coroner, Terence Carney said: "It just seems proper that if you've made a mistake such as this, you go back and apologise. I am concerned there was no apology."

A spokesperson for Northumbria Police said: “Our thoughts continue to be with the loved ones of Cherry Turner and all those affected by her tragic death. We recognise we arrested an individual at her home address and carried out a search of the premises while she was present in what turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.

“An investigation was subsequently carried out in relation to this incident and we have apologised to Cherry’s family and the individual arrested for failings identified. The full circumstances surrounding her death will be explored during the upcoming inquest and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment any further.”

A date for the inquest is yet to be set.