Norfolk Police has referred itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct after it failed to respond to a 999 call from a house where a family was later found dead. An emergency call was made from a man in a house in Costessey, near Norwich, at 06:00 GMT on Friday, but police resources were not deployed. Officers later forced entry to the property at 07:15 and found the bodies of a man, woman, and two young girls. The force has referred itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct.
It is the second referral that Norfolk Police has made to the IOPC following the deaths. It confirmed its officers were also called to the same house on 14 December as part of a missing persons inquiry and said that particular investigation would now be re-examined. All four people who died were found with injuries and post-mortem examinations will be held to establish the cause of their deaths.
The man found dead in the home has since been named locally as Bartlomiej Kuczynski. The road where the home is, on the Queen’s Hills estate, is still closed while police investigate. Det Ch Insp Chris Burgess said: “The man and two children lived at the address, but the woman involved was visiting and didn’t live at the property. Next of kin have been informed and we are supporting them.”
Police appealed to anyone who may have been in the area on Friday morning, and who may have seen or heard anything, to contact them. The Diocese of Norwich said its “thoughts and prayers” were with those impacted by the tragic news, adding that churches in Old Costessey and Easton would be open. The vicar of St Edmunds Church in Old Costessey, Reverend James Pinto, said: “The overriding feeling is one of shock and sadness.
“People are finding it hard to believe that this could happen in our community.” The church was open on Saturday afternoon for local people to offer prayers or light a candle. Justin Sandifer lives opposite the home where the family died and said the situation was “just really tragic”. “It’s a real shock what’s happened, it’s completely unexpected. This stuff doesn’t happen around here.
“Where I used to live in London you used to see the police cordons, but to wake up yesterday with a lot of police and ambulance arriving first thing in the morning – that was a really strange time.” Vincent Burch, who lives on Allan Bedford Crescent, said one of the children who died went to the same primary school as his son. He said he was “absolutely dismayed” by the incident. On Friday evening, the school sent parents an email informing them of the death of one of their pupils
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