Police apologise for telling wrong family about man’s sudden death
Police admit 'human error' caused distressing mistake in Aberdeen
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Police have apologised after telling the wrong family about a man’s sudden death.
Officers in Aberdeen had “limited information” to identify the man, which led them to a house in Peterhead where they believed his sister lived.
But it was “quickly” realised that the wrong next of kin had been identified, and the police later informed the bereaved family.
Chief Inspector Neil McDonald said: “During the afternoon of Sunday 3 September, Police Scotland attended the sudden, non-suspicious death of a man in Aberdeen.
“Unfortunately there was only limited information available as to the identity of the deceased and police commenced enquiry to establish details of his next of kin.
“As part of that enquiry, officers attended at an address in Aberdeenshire where they believed deceased's immediate family resided.
“Unfortunately, it was established that this was not the correct next of kin.”
Ch Insp McDonald said the mistake was “quickly identified”.
He added: “I have reviewed the circumstances with it appearing to be attributable to human error.
“Whilst I am content that our officers were attempting to identity the next of kin in difficult circumstances, this should not have happened and a supervisor has met with the affected family and apologised to them.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments