A force spokesperson said they responded to a report of a sudden death
CCTV has captured the moment a mum was given a rude awakening after police stormed her Stoke-on-Trent home in a mix-up. Kellie Simm says the shock intrusion felt like ‘something out of a film’ but she understood that police were just doing this job.
The 42-year-old was resting in bed shortly after her husband had left for work when she was disturbed by a large noise downstairs. Ring Doorbell footage captured three Staffordshire Police officers rushing towards her front door, with one stumbling along the way.
The botched welfare check happened at around 7.40am on Tuesday (February 10) following reports of a sudden death on The Moat, in Weston Coyney, reported StokeOnTrent Live.
Kellie told StokeonTrentLive: “They came storming into the house shouting ‘Police, police, police!’. I genuinely thought my husband had been in a car crash. He’d just left for work a few minutes earlier. I was still sort of asleep, so I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming when they came in through my bedroom door.
“They took a quick look and then said they’d got the wrong address and dashed off. One officer told me they’d just had a call saying that someone had suffered a heart attack and fell down the stairs. I thought it was strange because you don’t usually send three police cars, a forensic van and two ambulances to a heart attack.
“One of the police came back later and apologised for the whole thing. He asked if I wanted the incident number so I could make a complaint. I told him it was completely fine, I know they were just trying to act fast to help somebody. Who could be mad about that? I’m just glad my door was unlocked after my husband left so they didn’t have to break it down!”
Although Kellie was not angered by the incident, she admitted it did give her a real fright.
“Honestly, I totally cacked myself,” she explained. “It was like some drugs bust straight off TV. Obviously I knew I wasn’t in trouble or anything, but it still scares you. We live on what is normally a very nice, quiet street. So to have police burst through your door that early in the morning is definitely a shock.”
Kellie says her concerns were instead focused on her neighbours. She added: “Afterwards I went outside to see what was going on. There was a big commotion down the road. I couldn’t see much, but I saw some people were very upset an hour later. I knew something must have seriously gone wrong.
“I was really hoping it was nothing sad or sinister. My neighbours are all lovely and we get along really well. I’d hate to see anything happen to any of them. I hope everyone is as good as they can possibly be.”
Staffordshire Police confirmed a woman was tragically found dead on the same street.
A force spokesperson said: “At around 7.30am today, we responded to a report of a sudden death in Weston Coyney. Sadly, a woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
“In an effort to reach the casualty as quickly as possible and potentially administer life-saving medical care, officers initially entered the wrong address before speaking with ambulance staff who confirmed the correct address. Ambulance staff were already at the scene so there was no delay in treatment.”