Police dismissed concerns over suicidal trans teenager, mother tells inquest

Police brushed concerns about a suicidal transgender teenager “under the carpet”, an inquest has heard.

Jason Pulman was found dead in a park in East Sussex on the evening of April 19 2022 with a note that read “I’m sorry, mum”.

Sussex Police had received a missing person report that morning after the Pulman family found Jason’s bedroom empty.

The force classed Jason as a ‘medium’ risk despite the teenager having attempted suicide just months earlier.

The 15-year-old’s mother, Emily Pulman, called the police four times throughout the day before an officer arrived at her house at 7.11pm.

‘Felt so frustrated’

“I felt in my stomach that something bad was going to happen,” she told an inquest into Jason’s death at Hastings Coroner’s Court on Monday.

“I just felt so frustrated the police were doing nothing.”

Police had classed Jason’s level of risk as a missing person as ‘medium’ despite the teenager having a history of trauma and mental ill health, including serious self-harm and substance misuse.

The classification, which sits between low and high risk, suggests that officers viewed the risk of harm to Jason as “likely but not serious”, according to Sussex Police’s missing persons policy.

There is no set response time to a medium-risk case, but the policy requires “an active and measured response by the police”.

Ms Pulman, who searched for Jason herself and contacted friends, said she had informed the police that Jason was acting strangely the night before.

‘Brushing our concerns under the carpet’

Despite her concerns, the force did not escalate its assessment to high risk, which would suggest harm is “very likely”.

Later that day, Jason was found dead by a member of the public in Hampden Park, Eastbourne.

Ms Pulman told the court: “The police could have done something and they didn’t.

“I was so used to social services brushing our concerns under the carpet and it felt the same.”

Jason, who was born as a girl, had come out as transgender aged 14, and was described by Ms Pulman as someone who “loved all the silliness in the world and using it to make all those around him smile”.

The teenager was on the waiting list for gender affirming healthcare at the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust in north London.

The controversial clinic’s gender service was shut down after a damning independent review by Dr Hilary Cass in 2022 found it was “not safe” for children.

Mrs Pulman said Jason was “adamant” that being seen by GIDS would be “a step for him to feel better in his body”.

Jason grew frustrated at the length of the waiting list at the Tavistock centre, the inquest heard.

The teenager’s mental health also further deteriorated during the start of the Covid pandemic.

The inquest will conclude over five days if it was Jason’s intention to die.

A jury of 11 will also consider whether the police response to the missing person report was adequate.

Sussex Police has been contacted for comment.