Chief Constable’s apology

The Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire has apologised for getting the name of a dead teenager wrong in a letter to his mother.

Martin Hope (19) a former pupil at the Magnus School, Newark, died when his car crashed off the A1 southbound near the Claypole turn-off on August 17, 2007.

Police searches failed to find the car. His body was not found until three days after the crash when highways contractors discovered his upturned Vauxhall Nova.

In a letter to Mrs Joanne Lanes apologising for the failure to find her son’s vehicle, Chief Constable Julia Hodson referred to Martin as Matthew.

A Nottinghamshire Police spokesperson said: “Ms Hodson delivered a personal apology to Mrs Lanes at a meeting between the two at Nottinghamshire Police headquarters.

“Mrs Lanes subsequently requested that apology in a formal letter, which was when this genuine mistake occurred.

“Ms Hodson was extremely upset when she realised what had happened and immediately wrote to Mrs Lanes to apologise for the error.”