A POLICE inspector today told an inquest he does not remember a conversation with a dispatcher in which he allegedly told him to “get rid” of a log about a missing man who was later found hanged.

Inspector Jonathan Brady was one of the supervising officers in the Leeds District Control Room on Saturday, August 1, 2015, when police were told Colin Harding, of Gwynne Avenue, Bradford, had still not gone home despite being found by two Greater Manchester Police officers earlier that day.

Mr Harding, 39, told the officers who stopped him on the M62 he had been in Blackpool to clear his head and was on his way home.

He had earlier been reported missing by his estranged wife, Emma, after he sent her a text message saying “Life is a rollercoaster and it’s time I got off”.

When he did not return home after the Greater Manchester Police officers allowed him to leave, police received a phone call from Mrs Harding explaining her husband had sent a message to his sister-in-law claiming he had taken 100 pills, but they had “not worked” and it was “time for Plan B”.

Last week, the inquest heard from Frederick Kirk, a civilian dispatcher who worked under Insp Brady.

He admitted he did not realise, or check, that Mr Harding had been found at lunchtime and had still not been seen by 5pm.

Mr Kirk said he had a brief conversation with his supervisor, Insp Brady, before deciding to close the log.

“I shouted across something like ‘they are reporting Colin Harding as concern for him again’ and he replied that there’s no concern for him because they have just found him.”

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Sarah Hemingway, a barrister for Mr Harding’s family, asked Insp Brady about the conversation, and claimed he had told Mr Kirk to “get rid” of the log.

He said: “I don’t remember that conversation. I wouldn’t have told him to do that.”

Insp Brady said a typical night in the control room would involve dealing with between five and 30 missing people and on August 1, 2015, resources were stretched because of a shooting in Chapeltown, Leeds, and checks on Mr Harding could not be carried out as quickly as the inspector would have liked.

The supervisor set out a list of actions for officers to carry out, including getting more information from Mr Harding’s family and searching areas he was known to visit, but did not believe he was ‘high risk’.

He added: “I have thought long and hard about this.

“I have been a police officer for 38 years and an inspector for 12, and this is the first person to commit suicide that said they are going to do it.”

Mr Harding was found hanged on the morning of August 2 in Wood Nook, Denholme, by a runner.