TWO Thames Valley Police officers will keep their jobs after leaving a suicidal woman to die because they thought she was asleep and couldn’t get in.

Lucy Sessions died on August 18, 2017 after five-years of mental health support at Oxfordshire mental health hospitals.

That day her local mental health team received several worried calls from her family and friends reporting that she was threatening to kill herself.

The team called the police, and officers went to her home in Aylesbury.

However, when they arrived, they thought 22-year-old Ms Sessions was asleep because they had heard snoring.

The officers weren’t able to wake her up, so they left – believing that there was no risk to her life.

Four hours later they went back to her house and noted that the snoring that stopped.

They knew the situation had changed and made the decision to break-in to her house.

They didn’t have the right equipment with them at the time but instead of calling for help they went back to Aylesbury Police Station to collect an ‘enforcer’ – a forcible entry tool.

However, they couldn’t find one quickly.

When they eventually got back to her house, they forced their way inside, attempted CPR and then called for an ambulance.

Ms Sessions was then pronounced dead by paramedics.

After a referral from the force, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) started an independent investigation into what happened and whether it could have ended differently.

Part of that involved interviewing officers who were at the scene and looking at their actions and decisions at the time.

Investigators also interviewed witnesses to the incident and heard radio communication between the team of two and the control unit and other staff.

In August 2018, a year later, the investigation was closed with both officers blamed for misconduct.

The force agreed, and misconduct hearings were arranged.

If somebody is found to have committed misconduct, it is so serious that officers could lose their job.

In the end, the fist officer was found guilty after failing to ensure that they had the right equipment ready to get into her house when they went back.

The second officer was also found guilty after not prompting the other officer to make sure they had the ‘enforcer’ to break-in.

Read again: Lucy Sessions 'legacy will live on' after new music studios named in her honour

Both officers, neither of whom were named, were ordered to get management action which includes making an ‘improvement plan’, ‘identifying expectations for future conduct’ and ‘pointing out how the behaviour fell short of expectations’.

IOPC regional director Sarah Green, said: “Our thoughts remain with Lucy Sessions’ family and those who knew her. Our investigation, the subsequent independent misconduct meetings and the inquest proceedings gave a clear insight as to what happened that day.

“The actions of some of the officers and staff involved fell below the standard expected.

“Thames Valley Police now makes enforcers readily available at Aylesbury police station.”

An inquest into Ms Sessions's death was held at Aylesbury Coroners Court on January 29 and a narrative conclusion was found. The cause of her death could not be conclusively explained.

Her parents said her ‘legacy will live on’ after plans were submitted for a new music studio in her memory.

Read the plans here.

The studio will be at at Oxford's Warneford Hospital.