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A family believe Kent Police may have missed opportunities to find a young woman while she was still alive – and are calling for a jury inquest into her death.
It comes after the force this week admitted they mistakenly lost drone footage capturing how Leah Daley’s body was discovered at Folkestone Warren.
Thousands of people had joined a search for the 24-year-old in May last year and police say they “committed a number of resources”.
But she was tragically found dead by two walkers in undergrowth at the coastal beauty spot, about 700 yards from where she had last been seen 12 days before.
At a pre-inquest review at Oakwood House in Maidstone on Monday, Kent Police revealed it had lost drone footage recorded when her body was discovered.
Leah’s mum Hannah previously told KentOnline the family would “never get over” how long it took police to locate her daughter.
She said: “It took them 12 days to find Leah, who was apparently there all the time, despite having drone footage.”
But at the hearing this week, a Kent Police officer said: “General drone footage, would not be recorded, and the hours of a search carried out in a case like this would not be recorded.
“There was drone footage of the recovery of Leah’s body.
“But that in error has not been kept. We have lost the footage from above.”
Coroner Katrina Hepburn asked Kent Police to make enquiries to the digital forensics team to try to retrieve the lost drone footage.
Leah’s family say they were “told different things about whether it existed or not” before eventually being informed the recording had been wiped.
The coroner summarised the family's concerns, telling the court: “Your view is Leah may have been alive for a period of time where it was possible to find her.”
The family argued the drone footage would have shown how she was discovered, including how visible she was from the sky.
After the hearing, a police spokesperson told KentOnline the force “committed a significant number of resources in a bid to locate Leah Daley from the moment she was reported missing in the hope of finding her safe and well”.
They added: “Unfortunately, she was found deceased despite the best efforts of those who tried to locate her.
“Footage, including drone and body-worn video, captured the location she was found in and the efforts to recover her body.
“An administrative error meant the drone footage was incorrectly saved and not retained for the period of time it should have been.
“Efforts to try and recover the drone footage are underway. However, the body-worn video from Leah’s recovery is saved and available should the coroner wish to view it.”
Leah’s family are pushing for a jury inquest to be held, which will be decided by Ms Hepburn in the coming weeks.
Most inquests are held without a jury but there are particular circumstances when one must be called. These include if the death occurred in prison or resulted from an injury caused by a police officer in the purported execution of his duty or if the death resulted from an accident at work.
The Coroners Courts Support Service says: “The jury cannot blame someone for the death. If there is any blame, this can only be established by other legal proceedings in civil or criminal courts.
“However, the jury can record facts that make it clear that the death was caused by a specific failure of some sort or by neglect.”
An inquest into the waitress’s death was opened on September 27 at Oakwood House where the cause of death was recorded as “cocaine toxicity”.
Cocaine toxicity occurs within minutes to hours of excessive cocaine use, whereby symptoms include rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, hyperthermia, excessive sweating and agitation. Patients may die suddenly before receiving specialist medical treatment.
Leah had been reported missing on May 5, with her family at the time describing her disappearance as “totally out of character”.
She was seen at 7pm that day at The Warren, which she had enjoyed visiting since childhood.
The court heard during the moments leading up to Leah’s disappearance she had spoken to a friend and said she was going for a walk to clear her head.
Leah was listed as a high-risk missing person sparking a huge effort to locate her consisting of numerous police appeals, an 8,700-member Facebook group called Leah’s Search and circulation of the hashtag #findleahdaley on social media.
Her body was discovered on May 17 and tributes have since been placed at the location.
A vigil was also held in the town and her family thanked the colossal efforts of the local community in the search.
Police confirmed Leah’s death was not being treated as suspicious.
A date for a full inquest has not yet been set and another pre-inquest review will be held later this year.