Businessman blamed police in 19-word 999 call before jumping to his death from A500 bridge

A businessman rang 999 and blamed police in a 19-word call before jumping to his death from an A500 bridge. Staffordshire Police were hauled before Nicholas Boulton’s inquest on Monday (May 22).

Mr Boulton had been bailed to stay at Talke Travelodge following his second arrest on suspicion of domestic violence. However, just hours after getting his Travelodge key, the 64-year-old, from Georges Way, Bignall End, walked to the A500 bridge, made the 999 call, and jumped onto the carriageway.

He was struck by a Ford Fiesta, suffered a devastating brain injury, and died later that day, StokeonTrentLive reports. An earlier inquest heard Mr Boulton had also made two 999 calls to West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) in the hours before his death but paramedics were so busy no-one came.

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Now both Staffordshire Police and WMAS have been cleared of any wrongdoing following Mr Boulton's death on December 28, 2021. The inquest heard from Nigel Warrillow, an assistant case manager for Staffordshire Police's professional standards department. He outlined a timeline from the moment of Mr Warrilow's first arrest to his death.

He said: "At 2.05am on December 24, officers received a report from someone who claimed their partner was being aggressive. The partner said they needed the police. Officers attended and found Mr Boulton intoxicated. He was given a verbal warning. At 11.41pm on December 24, officers received a report from the partner who asked for police to attend and went on to say the partner was attacking them.

"At 12.05am on December 25, officers attended and found that Nick was intoxicated. He explained to officers that he