A Thames Valley Police sergeant has been dismissed without notice and a former constable would have been sacked after both were found guilty of gross misconduct over the death of a man in custody.
Sergeant Laura Murray, who was based in Reading, and former PC Leon Cunningham faced a misconduct hearing concerning the treatment of William Cameron following his arrest on January 8, 2020.
Mr Cameron was initially able to speak, stand and answer questions, but the panel heard his condition deteriorated after his arrest.
Officers were told he had taken prescription tablets and had a heart condition, while Leon Cunningham later received information that Mr Cameron had swallowed a large quantity of pills.
The panel found Leon Cunningham inaccurately passed this on as Mr Cameron having "pocketed" pills.
It said Mr Cameron should have been taken directly to hospital rather than Loddon Valley Custody Suite and described Leon Cunningham's conduct as a "clear and egregious breach of professional conduct".
Mr Cameron arrived at custody limp and unresponsive and had to be carried into a cell.
Laura Murray, who was the custody sergeant, arranged for him to be assessed by a healthcare professional but subsequently placed him on Level One observations without rousing checks.
The panel described her decision not to conduct 30-minute rousing checks as a "fatal error". It found she failed to reassess Mr Cameron, seek further medical assistance after he remained unresponsive and conduct adequate risk assessments.
At 7.04am another detention officer entered the cell and attempted to rouse Mr Cameron.
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First aid was carried out and paramedics arrived at 7.21am before Mr Cameron was taken to hospital, where he was declared dead at 8.16am.
The panel found Laura Murray's culpability was high, saying Mr Cameron was "very vulnerable" and that she had "failed abjectly" in her duty of care.
The misconduct panel said Mr Cameron’s death was a “direct result” of Laura Murray’s failures. The panel considered imposing a final written warning after receiving positive evidence about her work and character, but concluded public confidence could not be maintained by that sanction.
Laura Murray, who joined the police in 2005 and became a sergeant in 2015, was dismissed without notice.
Leon Cunningham, meanwhile, had already left the force.
The panel found his withholding of information was dishonest and amounted to "operational dishonesty", and the panel said Leon Cunningham’s conduct could be “directly linked” to Mr Cameron’s death.
It concluded that had he still been a serving officer, he would have been dismissed without notice.
Both were found to have breached professional standards concerning authority, respect and courtesy, orders and instructions, duties and responsibilities and discreditable conduct.
The misconduct hearing was held between January 12 and 15, 2026.
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