Police officers who went to McDonalds en route to 999 call to face misconduct hearing

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A pair of police officers who stopped at McDonald’s for a cup of tea on their way to a 999 call will face a gross misconduct hearing, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said.

PCs Gavin Bateman and Tony Stephenson had been directed to attend an address in Poplar, east London after concerns were raised about a woman’s welfare.

But the police watchdog said the delay between the time of the call and the officers attending the scene was “significant”.

Fahima Begum was later found hanged in the early hours of 16 April 2015, a few hours after sending a suicidal text message to a friend who alerted police.

An inquest into her death in November 2015 found Ms Begum had died before the call to London's Metropolitan Police had been made.

An investigation later found that the officers had driven to buy cups of tea before parking at a nearby roundabout where they waited for 24 minutes. During that time they contacted the concerned friend.

The call was graded as “significant”, meaning officers must arrive on scene within 60 minutes.

However regulations state they should attend as soon as possible, according to the IPCC. It added that the call handlers had no cases to answer.

Colin Dewar, who headed the IPCC investigation, said they had "established a significant delay between the officers accepting the call and attending Ms Begum's home."

He added: "It will now be a matter for a panel to determine whether or not the response of the officers breached the standards of professional behaviour."

The hearing will take place in London on February 27 and 28.