A lawyer representing Kent Police acknowledged failings were made by the force the night a 17-year-old boy called them for help before taking his own life.

Matthew Mackell from Tunbridge Wells, who would have celebrated his 18th birthday last Tuesday, died in Dunorlan Park on May 7.

During a Pre Inquest Review at County Hall in Maidstone on Wednesday, the counsels for Kent Police and Matthew's family referenced a report by the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) which found 'a number of failings' were made that night.

The report is yet to be published and the exact details of the failings are not yet known.

Having read the findings, Tom Stoate, counsel for the family, pointed out there is reason to suspect that Matthew’s death resulted from the actions of police.

The term 'police' may not specifically refer to an officer and could also include civilian members of staff.

But on behalf of Kent Police, Frances McClenaghan claimed while failings were found, the police conduct might not have made a difference to the tragedy.

The lawyers made the statements during discussion on whether a jury should be sworn in.

The family of the teen, who was in Year 12 at Skinners Kent Academy, has requested a jury but the coroner is yet to make a decision on this.

Mr Stoate said: "In context of the death of a young man struggling through a pandemic, and with an apparent failure on the police, there will be real public concern and that’s the concern of the family."

In response, Ms McClenaghan said there is no necessary cause for a jury because there is no information to suggest the death resulted from the actions of a police officer.

She added: "Although police sergeants were marked as 'available' at the time, it's not known if they would have been appropriate to deal with the incident.

"If they want a jury, they need to give evidence that there’s a sufficient reason as to why.

"Although there were a number of failings, there is no evidence to suggest Matthew's death could have been prevented."

The failings in the report do not relate to any individual, but it is believed there are some recommendations for the force.

Kent Police is waiting for the outcome for the inquest and a date for the hearing is yet to be confirmed.

During the full inquest, the coroner hopes to paint a picture of what happened in the control room the night Matthew called for help.

The report by the IOPC follows a mandatory referral by the force after Matthew called 999 in distress before taking his own life.

The details of his final phone call were shared with Matthew's father Michael Bond in July.

They revealed that at 10.18pm, on May 6, the 17-year-old made an abandoned call to police. He said: “Can you send someone to pick me up, I’m about to kill myself.”

The call handler made attempts to call him back and two calls were answered by Matthew. On the first one, he said he was "okay", but on the second he hung up.

At 10.23pm, police located Matthew's calls as being made from the "area of Dunorlan Park".

At 10.42pm, a member of staff managed to speak to Matthew "briefly" before the teenager "cleared the line". Five minutes later, the staff member upgraded the incident to "immediate", updated Matthew's location to Dunorlan Park and "transferred it back to dispatch".

But, at 10.54pm, it was downgraded to "high" and the reason for doing so was that "our only available action is to continue contacting the phone for updates and information to identify the caller."

At 11.26pm, a police officer "asked if there were any patrols free for a tour of the area" and requested if the ambulance service had received any calls from Matthew's number, which "came back negative".

Between 11.39pm and 2.41am, three attempts were made to contact Matthew, but he did not answer.

During that time, there was also an attempt to deploy a police officer but they, too, did not answer.

In a note found in his diary, the 17-year-old had expressed how lockdown made him anxious about his exam results and what it meant for his future.

Since the tragedy, Mr Bond has been an advocate for mental health and encourages young people who might be struggling to talk to their families and seek help.

Help and support can be found at The Calm Zone and Fegans.

For confidential support on an emotional issue, call Samaritans on 116 123 at any time.

If you want to talk to someone confidentially, click here.

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