Jade Hutchings

8 December 2022 

Dear Ms Schofield 

Further to your letter dated 31 October concerning the Regulation 28 Report to 
Prevent Future Deaths and your requirement for me to respond to comments in 
your report about the REBOOT initiative, I can report as follows: 

I named and launched the REBOOT initiative in 2019, as an early intervention youth 
programme and local response to the Government’s Serious Violence Strategy.  
To do this, I secured one-off funding of £890,616 from the Home Office’s Early 
Intervention Youth Fund to increase support for young people in Sussex who were 
at risk of becoming involved in serious violence. This additional funding was over 
and above the annual policing budget for Sussex and complimentary to the wider 
Sussex statutory services provided to young people delivered by local authorities 
and their youth justice and social services. 

REBOOT was co-designed with local statutory and non-statutory partners and was 
aimed at complementing existing services provided by statutory agencies to identify 
young people showing signs of taking part in risky behaviours and on the periphery 
of becoming involved in serious violence. REBOOT was not intended as an 
alternative criminal justice pathway where a young person was already part of 
Youth Justice Service case load.  It was acknowledged by all agencies at the outset 
that the additional funds, albeit significant, would be unlikely to satisfy the total 
demand across Sussex and, hence, only those young people displaying the greatest 
risk would take priority. Initially it was anticipated this funding would provide 
services for around 300 young people. 

In order to prioritise and to have the most impact, young people are referred into 
REBOOT when starting to display the early signs of being at risk of becoming 
involved in crime and violence.  These include but are not limited to: non-
engagement with school; missing episodes; being part of a peer group coming to 
the attention of police; harmful risk taking; alcohol or drug use; and aggressive or 
impulsive behaviour. The programme engages positively with a small cohort of 
those aged between 10-17 years of age, at risk of committing serious violence, and 
those who have already come to the attention of the police through anti-social 
behaviour and low-level criminality. It is a strength-based programme which builds 
on the positive and protective factors in a young person’s life. 

The funding enabled REBOOT to be implemented and provided a range of extra 
resources to manage a target of 300 young people. The triaging process was 
conducted by dedicated REBOOT coordinators, supported by a dedicated REBOOT 
Sergeant embedded in Sussex Police structures. This involved looking into the 
young person’s police history and understanding their involvement with the police 
to date. Often this included family history and past school incidents. Co-ordinators 
reviewed specific incidents further, to understand the young person’s involvement 
and decipher whether they met the risky behaviours criteria for early intervention. 
If the young person’s history was limited, and the recent incident met the criteria, 

 the Co-ordinators would conduct a Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) check to 
understand their involvement with social services. If they were not open to social 
services, then this would be a successful candidate and they could be enrolled on 
the REBOOT programme.       

The Home Office grant provided opportunities to test this initiative alongside 
constraints in terms of the volume of young people it could impact upon, as not 
every young person who comes to the attention of police can be referred onto the 
REBOOT programme.  

Following on from the initial success of REBOOT, I funded the programme for an 
additional year in 2020/21 at a cost of £734,532 from my budget.  During this 
period, the positive outcomes were verified and, in April 2021, co-ordination of the 
REBOOT scheme was migrated across to Sussex Police to become part of the 
embedded targeted response for the needs of young people in Sussex and funded 
from the force’s core budget.  

In terms of further action, in my role as the Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner, I 
have a statutory duty to hold the Chief Constable to account for policing in its 
totality and, at my monthly webcast Performance Accountability Meetings (PAM) I 
regularly scrutinise the Chief Constable over how Sussex Police responds to the 
risks of young people becoming involved in serious violence and will continue to do 
so.  This scrutiny includes how REBOOT continues to play a part in such matters.  
The last time I enquired into REBOOT at a PAM was on 18th March 2022, the 
meeting and minutes can be viewed on the following link: SPCC - Watch Live 
(sussex-pcc.gov.uk) 

Yours sincerely 

Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner

Penelope Schofield 

HM Senior Coroner, Coroner’s Office 

West Sussex Record Office 

Orchard Street, Chichester 

West Sussex, PO19 1DD 

20th December 2022 

Dear Penelope, 

Thank you for your letter dated 26th November relating to the inquest into the death of Jade Hutchings.  The 
Regulation 28 report issued to me on 31st October is progressing, and we intend to have a full reply submitted 
to you as soon as we are able.  

You highlighted a further issue in respect of body worn video (BWV) cameras and their batteries.  I have made 
enquiries about this matter and am keen to provide you with a response to those points.  

Since the sad death of Ms Hutchings Sussex Police has completed a roll out of a more modern BWV platform, 
as well as refreshing policy on BWV usage by officers and staff.  This new system allows colleagues to swap out 
a camera with low battery life for a new one with a fully charged battery within seconds, this is very different 
from the previous system which were personal issue cameras which relied upon officers and staff charging 
their own cameras.  This system allows officers to have the best available camera in terms of battery life.  The 
new cameras also have an audible low battery alert giving officers notice that they will be required to swap 
their current camera for a new one as soon as possible.  

Additionally our BWV managing team run a weekly “bad battery” report to determine cameras that may have 
battery issue to allow them to removed from service and a fix to be made. This feeds into the contract that we 
have with the supplier to ensure that new batteries are covered under the warranty ensuring they are fixed in 
a timely way.   

Finally our new style of BWV camera are constantly recording as when an officer or staff member activate the 
camera is begins the recording 15 seconds prior to the officer pressing the record button. Therefore I am 
confident that this new platform now means that officers and staff have no cause to not turn their cameras on 
to preserve battery life, which will prevent any issues such as the one you raised being a concern in the future.  

I am grateful to you for raising this issue, and hope that this reassurance is sufficient. 

Yours sincerely, 

Chief Constable, Sussex Police

FAO: Penelope Schofield 

Senior Coroner for West Sussex  

21st December 2022 

Dear Ms Schofield, 

Sussex Police Response to Regulation 28 - Issues arising from the death of Jade Hutchings 

Thank you for including us within the scope of this notice. I welcome it, as it is vital that Sussex Police, 
and indeed all public authorities, learn from such tragic incidents as this and strive to improve where 
appropriate.  

I will deal with your concerns sequentially: 

 Inadequate Police training on Mental Health  

1.1  -  ‘During  the  course  of  the  Inquest  officers  involved  in  dealing  with  Jade  (and  in  particular 
around the exercise of their Section 136 powers on 21/5/20) acknowledged that they had received 
very little mental health training.  Some officers could not recall any additional training provided 
since their initial training when they first joined the force’.  

Response  

Sussex Police recognise that at the time of Jade’s death in May 2020, the provision of Mental Health 
training for Police Officers and staff was limited to their initial training. The level of training has been 
significantly developed in the intervening two years and has been enhanced both at entry level and 
through continued professional development.  

The contents of both syllabuses are detailed below.  

Current Training Delivered to Officers Upon Joining Sussex Police 

Mental health training is provided to all Student Officers in Sussex during their initial training 
programme. In December 2020 the initial training package was enhanced and again updated in 
March 2022. The training being delivered to all new officers joining Sussex Police at the time of 
writing (December 2022) is set out below.  

Face-to-Face input on Mental Health Awareness and Powers covers topics including: 

•  What is mental health 
•  Stigma around mental health 
•  Mental health statistics 
Learning Disabilities 
• 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •  Autism 
•  Section 136 Mental Health Act 1983 
•  Section 135 Mental Health Act 1983 
•  Mental Capacity Act 2005 

In addition to this, there is an online ‘Vulnerability’ section within the programme, which requires 
Student Officers to read about the Mental Health Act, Mental Health Codes of Practice and the 
Mental Capacity Act. They look at how mental ill health can make someone vulnerable and are 
required to research partner organisations that support people with poor mental health.  

The update in March 2022 brought the addition of: 

Including mental health under disabilities when discussing the Equality Act 2010. The 

• 
Equality Act links to neurodiversity but not specifically mental health.  
•  Effects of societal, cultural, and personal (e.g., ethnicity and mental health) influences and 
the conflict such influences can cause (this is specifically under conflict management). 

1.2 The officers admitted that although they were aware of the Sussex Police mental health guide 
they had not read it in full. 

The Sussex Police Mental Health Guide was been relaunched on the Sussex Police internal website 
which is available to all staff. It has also been added to apps which are available on mobile devices 
provided to all frontline staff. Resources designed to be easily accessible to support officers at the 
point of need and provide a quick and readily available reference point include the “Crewmate” and 
“Quick links” apps, which are both available to officers and staff on their Mobile Data Terminals 
(MDT) this makes the information accessible whilst attending incidents.  Some of the resources 
available on ‘’Crewmate’ are:  

•  Suicide Intervention 

•  Mental Health Guide Sussex, and an additional 1-page guidance document that instructs 
officers how to manage s136 detentions 

•  S136 MHA A&E Response Guide 

•  Full Mental Health Guide 

•  Safeguarding Guide 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1.3 The expert police witness, Michael Brown, told the Inquest that in his view the online training 
provision that we were told was being rolled out in Sussex was not sufficient. None of the officers 
involved in this case had yet undertaken this online training. It was his opinion that officers should be 
provided with the nationally recognised two-day training course written by the College of Policing, 
the course is available for all Police forces to be rolled out locally. This training had not been adopted 
by Sussex Police. 

Response  

The comments and concerns of the Expert Police Witness, Michael Brown in relation to Sussex 
officers undertaking the College of Policing (CoP) two-day training course, have been carefully 
considered. The College of Policing do not deliver a two-day classroom-based learning course but do 
offer a ‘Mental Health Programme’ (published in October 2021) intended to support the Police 
Service to develop and deliver their own ‘in house’ training programme. The College of Policing 
recommend a ‘target audience’ for each module of their Mental Health Programme and individual 
forces are given discretion as to who would be more appropriate to attend specific parts of the 
programme; for example, the target audience for developing a strategic response to mental health is 
aimed at Inspectors and above up to and including NPCC and police staff equivalent.   

Two, specific elements of the programme are targeted at First Responders:  

1.  The College of Policing e-learning module. – Mental Health and the Police 
This module has already been included in our CPD programme and all response officers must 
have completed this as part of the CPD schedule in 2022.  
2.  E-Learning Mental Health Legislation / Providing a response to Mental Health Incidents 
(Classroom based) / Responding to Suicide 
In 2021, the Sussex Police internal ‘e-learning’ package included all of these elements.  

With the implementation of the additional training courses detailed above, our mental health 
training provision for officers and frontline staff has improved significantly since Jade’s tragic death 
in May 2020. We also continually look to identify any improvements that can be made to support 
our officers and staff in dealing with mental health incidents.  

It is important to note that Police Officers are not Mental Health Practitioners, and it is not their 
police role to have an in-depth knowledge of all mental health conditions and circumstances. Whilst 
the policing responsibility should predominantly be the prevention and detection of crime, it is 
highly likely that Police officers and Police staff will encounter people who are vulnerable due to 
mental health. This could be in a criminal justice capacity such as a victim, witness or suspect of a 
crime and also in a health care capacity when exercising police powers to support health care 
agencies. It is of course incumbent that Police Officers are aware of their powers under s136 and 
s135 of the Mental Health Act (1983); Mental Health Codes of Practice and the Mental Capacity Act 
(2005), and this is incorporated into existing training. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 Continued Professional Development (CPD) – Mandatory Programme  

This is a mandated programme for Sussex Police response teams, with time for completion 
embedded into the officer’s shift pattern. The training is a mixture of virtual webinars and e-learning 
courses. It is the individual’s responsibility to ensure that they catch up on anything they miss due to 
absence, and provision is made for them to do this via self-directed study slots, written into the CPD 
scheduling. It is an expectation via management that all officers complete these sessions and the 
content provided.  In addition, wherever possible these sessions are recorded, and the content 
uploaded onto ‘College Learn’ for out of hours availability. 

The following training has already been delivered as part of this mandated programme: 

Mental Health Awareness – Sussex (e-learning) – January/February 2022 
This course reviews the understanding of mental health and the powers and responsibilities that 
Sussex Police have to those suffering from a mental health condition. The course provides key 
contacts, legislation, procedural guidance, and referral information for further awareness.  
The course also includes information regarding resources available to officers on their personal 
issue MDTs (Mobile Data Terminals) such as Mental Health Forms, Refence materials, resources, 
and internal support.  
Mental Health and the Police Programme – College of Policing (e-learning) –October/November 
2022 
This is the College of Policing e-learning package on ‘College Learn’. This programme provides a 
general awareness of mental health conditions and diversity. 
The content consists of two modules:  
Mental Health Explained 
• 
and vulnerability, learning disabilities, misconceptions, legislation, assessing capacity 

Including: defining mental health, poor mental health, core issues, mental health conditions 

Mental Health Initial Response 
• 
Including: communication - verbal and non-verbal, point of view communication, point of 
view de-escalation, MHA Section 135 (1) warrants, criminal suspect with poor mental health, 
vulnerable victims and witnesses, vulnerable suspects, other causes for incidents and safe and 
well checks. 

Personal Safety Training 

Personal Safety Training is mandatory safety training which all officers are required to attend twice a 
year. The training includes a number of real-life scenarios which officers will encounter when 
responding to incidents. The training content during October 2021 – March 2022 included an input  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 on mental health crisis and distressed victims, highlighting some of signs and symptoms that a 
person in a mental health crisis may display, and reinforces the options available to officers in 
responding to such incidents. It also reminds officers of their powers, and what they need to 
consider under the Mental Health Act. The scenarios complement the other mandatory mental 
health training provided by Sussex Police.  

Current courses now include a mental health training input on the following mandatory courses: 

Initial Inspector Training: A minimum of an hour session to go over some of the key areas of 

• 
mental health and policing that may require Inspector oversight. Features discussion on s136 
pathway and escalation.  
•  Custody Officer Training: A session for Custody Officers to support them in managing some 
of the complex areas of interface between mental health and the criminal justice system. This 
features discussion on s136 detentions from Police custody.  
•  Call Handlers Mental Health Training: A half-day session on the variety of mental health 
related calls that they may encounter. This includes an input on s136 detentions, and the 
training will be delivered to all Control Room Operators before the end of 2022.  

All training that is delivered by Sussex Police on Mental Health & Policing is in line with the College of 
Policing’s APP on Mental Health & Policing and is currently developed and delivered with oversight 
from a mental health social worker. 

1.4 There was also confusion amongst Officers (and a lack of clear understanding) around the 
provision and use of service the Haven at Millview could provide.  

We understand this observation to relate to the wider context of the ‘Blue Light Line’ (of which the 
Haven at Millview forms part), the telephone provision provided by Sussex Partnership NHS 
Foundation Trust for officers to use for consultation about mental health incidents, namely when 
they are considering using their powers under s136 of the Mental Health Act (1983).  

In response to requests from frontline Police Officers to have additional information in relation to 
s136, an additional guide to s136 detentions was published in January 2022 which clearly outlines 
the role of ‘The Blue Light Line’. This document was reviewed and developed into a short 2-page 
document that has been added to the ‘Crewmate’ app. Sussex Police also publish its ‘Mental Health 
Guide’ on the Crewmate app for officers to refer to. 

1.  REBOOT - Lack of provision for Older Age Group  

There was clear evidence that Jade was vulnerable and had become involved in violence and 
crime in 2019 (the year before his death).  It was believed by some that Jade exploited by 
gangs running county line drug operations.   A need for an early intervention was identified 
by his social worker and a referral to Reboot was made. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 The Inquest was told that at the time REBOOT was prioritising 12 – 14 years children and as 
Jade was nearing 18 they were unable to work with him.  This was a missed opportunity for 
Jade to be involved in a form of early intervention before his life started unravelling and he 
became more heavily entrenched in the world of crime. It is understood that at the time of 
Jade’s death the Police and Crime Commissioner was responsible for the REBOOT scheme but 
at the time of writing this report the scheme is now run by Sussex Police. 

Response  

The Reboot programme was introduced in June 2019, originally financed by Home Office funding 
and later financed, and overseen by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), with 
officers from Sussex Police working on the programme in tactical roles. The age criteria set by OPCC 
made the programme available to children aged between 10yrs – 17rs.  

From April 2021 the Reboot programme continued to be available, but funding and oversight was 
taken over by Sussex Police. The age criteria remained at 10yrs – 17yrs but without any focus on a 
particular age group within that range. 

Reboot is intended to be an early intervention, specifically targeted to a child who is at Level 2 of the 
Continuum of Need, and has the following indicators:  

•  Exposed to criminal behaviour as the norm.  
•  High disregard for the rules.  
•  Aggressive behaviours 
•  Experience of violence within the community.  
•  High Impulsivity 
•  Engaging in harmful risk taking.  
•  Early Signs of difficult relationship with caregiver/family member.  
•  Engaging in unhealthy and potentially exploitative relationships.  
•  Alcohol or Drug use.  
•  Not engaging positively at school. 

Children at level 3 & 4 of the Continuum of Need remain the responsibility of statutory services, as 
their needs are considered too high for the Reboot programme. 

In light of the Reboot Programme in 2019 being staffed by officers from Sussex Police, to assist our 
response to the Regulation 28 Report a retrospective review has been carried out to ascertain 
whether, at the point of referral Jade could have been accepted onto the programme. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Whilst Reboot accepted children up to the age of 17, they needed to have sufficient time to work 
with the children before their 18th birthday (including a 12-week mentoring programme). As the 
programme started in June 2019, the referral window for Jade would have been approximately 3  

months (June to August) due to his age. Although we are unable to confirm exactly why Jade was not 
accepted on to the Reboot programme, it is unlikely that it was based on his age alone, as at the 
time of the referral Jade’s needs were too high and had surpassed the Reboot criteria.  

We have worked hard to ensure that we are able to provide a comprehensive and constructive 
response which we hope addresses the issues raised within the Regulation 28.  

However, if there are any follow-up questions about this response, please do come back to me and I 
will do my best to resolve them.  

Yours sincerely,  

Chief Constable Jo Shiner