A teenage beauty student died after police couldn’t find equipment to force their way into her home, an inquest has heard.
Alex Duce, 18, was a ‘popular’ person with ‘many friends’ who was following her dreams to study beauty at college.
But she was reported missing by her worried mum after she was unable to contact her the day after their final video call.
An inquest heard police went to her flat at 11am but left when there was no answer because Alex was only deemed a ‘medium risk.’
Officers returned hours later but there was a 30 minute delay in finding heavy equipment at the station needed to gain entry to the flat.
The inquest heard officers finally forced their way inside just before 5pm after a neighbour said they heard footsteps and a ‘loud bang’ that afternoon.
Alex was found hanged in her room in Tredegar, South Wales, but police believed she had only recently lost consciousness before CPR was started.
She was rushed to hospital in September 2022 and put on life support – but died five days later on September 16.
PC Michael Lammert, of Gwent Police, had gone to check on Alice at her second floor flat at 11am but left after there was no answer.
He said she was deemed a ‘medium risk’ by the force and he had been told by Alex’s friend that she ‘does this from time to time’.
PC Lammert said: ‘To me I took that as she shuts off from people and doesn’t want contact with friends and family sometimes.’
The officer said Alex’s mother told police she had been struggling with her mental health and had self harmed five weeks earlier.
He said: ‘There was no immediacy. If there was a clear message relaying she was contemplating suicide then that would definitely have been a higher risk.’
PC Lammert was dispatched to the flat a second time at 4pm with PC Lauren Smith after reports of Alex’s loved ones gathered outside banging on the door.
PC Smith, as an officer trained in powers of entry, was tasked with assessing the situation and deciding whether to force access.
She said there was only one entry kit per police station at the time containing heavy apparatus such as a hooligan bar or battering ram.
PC Smith said it was common for officers to not be able to locate the kits which she admitted could be ‘frustrating’.
The officer said on the day Alex died it had taken up to 30 minutes to retrieve the kit – meaning it took 52 minutes from being dispatched to reach the property.
PC Smith said she began to realise more about the case after being told Alex had self-harmed and in her mind the risk became higher.
She said: ‘That information was never made available to me. The sense of urgency increased while I was there as I gained more information.’
The battering ram was used five times on the door before the officers managed to gain entry and within seconds found Alex in her room.
Alex, who was showing signs of life, was rushed by ambulance to the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil where she received advanced life support but her machine was switched off days later.
The inquest, before assistant coroner Sarah Le Fevre, continues in Newport, Gwent.
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